Bridges to Community Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133731405
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Crugers, NY, USA
Phone
9145127712
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$547,735
Expenses
$492,450
Assets
$432,475
Liabilities
$67,001

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAULA MULHAIR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAULA MULHAIR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $64,109 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To build a more just and sustainable world through service, learning, and community development.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education: the scholarship program provides higher education funding for 9 young adults from our partner communities, covering costs such as transportation, enrollment fees, school supplies, a modest food stipend, thesis expenses, and graduation fees. In addition to financial support, the program tracks scholars' academic progress and involves them in cultural exchanges with btc volunteer groups. Through these interactions, scholars are encouraged to become agents of change, promote community service, and serve as role models within their communities. The program was developed to address the challenges faced by high school graduates in bridges' partner communities. While public universities offer tuition-free education, students from remote areas face high transportation costs to reach campuses in san juan. Many cannot afford the frequent travel, and those who do enroll often limit their courses to attend only once or twice a week, extending the time needed to complete their degrees and compounding barriers to their education and future success. The bridges to community scholarship program seeks to alleviate these financial burdens, empowering motivated students to pursue higher education and improve their earning potential, family well-being, and personal and professional development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -20.3% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.8% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $412K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.