Brooklyn Boatworks Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271509754
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 6463262840
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Student Services, Organizations of Students
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $927,458
- Expenses
- $795,383
- Assets
- $553,967
- Liabilities
- $105,166
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARGARETMARY MCNICHOLAS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MARGARETMARY MCNICHOLAS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $167,442 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 encourage, inspire and empower young people through the unique craft of wooden boatbuilding and on-the-water experiences.
What it reported doing in 2024
Brooklyn boatworks worked with 328 youth spanning 5th to 11th grades. The organization oversaw 14 boat builds across seven different schools in New York city. Within each class, students collaborated on crafting a 7'6" optimist pram sailboat, using wooden materials and basic hand tools. Students learned basic construction and tool skills, applied measurement and estimation, local waterway geography, nautical chart reading, buoyancy, and the physics of sailing. Brooklyn boatworks emphasizes cooperation, perseverance, craftsmanship, and experiential learning. To culminate the school year, students celebrated their achievements through an impressive boat launch and regatta. Additionally, the youth were actively involved in various activities, field trips, and a sailing camp. Throughout all of brooklyn boatworks's endeavors, the focus remained on promoting stem and maritime-centered education, hands-on learning, and nurturing healthy social-emotional development.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61%; rating input score 61
- Program expense ratio: 71.2%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: 14.2%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 21.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 61% of revenue deployed · 71.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $566K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.