Cambridge Community Housing Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222933799
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6178684858
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,997,032
Expenses
$1,932,925
Assets
$30,387,667
Liabilities
$14,590,984

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LOUISE ELVING (PRESIDENT)
  • VINCENT O'DONNELL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SARA BARCAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA BARCAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $291,859 total reported compensation
  • KATE GILMORE (ASSISTANT CLERK): $213,707 total reported compensation
  • HIEN BURNHAM (CONTROLLER): $190,409 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To develop and maintain affordable housing in cambridge.

What it reported doing in 2025

Affordable housing

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.5%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 97%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.72; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.5% of revenue deployed · 97% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $292K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $370K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.