Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Connecticut Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060943916
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Bridgeport, CT, USA
Phone
2033898734
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$562,827
Expenses
$680,751
Assets
$355,175
Liabilities
$4,841

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN MELE JR (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • PETER LOVELL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELLEN TRACY (EXEC. DIRECTOR): $128,265 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the organization is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youths, primarily through the provision of a professionnaly supported one-to-one relationship with a screened, trained, caring adult.

What it reported doing in 2021

The organization provides services to children from single parent families. They recruit, screen, train and supervise adult volunteers to provide companionship and guidance to the children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -21%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92% of revenue deployed · 76.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $518K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 23 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.