Building Burlingtons Future Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
334131000
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Burlington, VT, USA
Phone
4138470915
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$317,552
Expenses
$153,671
Assets
$163,881
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sam Donnelly (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sam Donnelly (Executive Director): $71,615 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to build an affordable, safe, and vibrant Burlington through effective policy development and community action.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community Action In 2025, Building Burlington's Future supported community action by highlighting and amplifying the work of eight local organizations and initiatives focused on recovery, youth support, and neighborhood connection. BBF sent 25 community emails with an average open rate of 82% and built a growing online community-gaining 274 Facebook followers and 820 Instagram followers, with more than 414,000 Facebook views and 388,000 Instagram views in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 52
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.3%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 66.8%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 51.6%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.3% of revenue deployed · 66.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $103K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.