Cardinal Cushing Centers Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104871
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hanover, MA, USA
Phone
7818266371
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$47,528,155
Expenses
$39,524,989
Assets
$55,305,464
Liabilities
$11,788,127

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELLE MARKOWITZ (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELLE MARKOWITZ (PRESIDENT/CEO): $315,264 total reported compensation
  • RITA MCDONOUGH (CFO): $239,224 total reported compensation
  • JANSI CHANDLER GRANT (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $200,284 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cardinal cushing centers, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1947, provides individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, from school age through adult and elder years, educational, employment and employment training, social relationships, recreation, and enhanced independent living opportunities in caring and engaging settings. Together with typical individuals, all experience better lives together than they would alone. Families, as well as individuals through our communities, share in the journey, gaining strength and insight as a vital part of the mix.

What it reported doing in 2024

Day and residential schools - cardinal cushing centers provides an individualized life skills program designed to prepare students for living and working in the greater community. Students are offered a continuum of learning experiences including educational, prevocational, vocational, day and residential programs adapted to meet the needs of each student. Cardinal cushing is a day and residential school specializing in helping students with autism and mild, moderate, and severe intellectual disabilities, many of whom have additional secondary disabilities. Both day and residential programs provide a full compliment of supportive services including educational testing, physical, speech and occupational therapies, adaptive physical education, art, music, computer educational and recreation. In addition to off-campus vocational training opportunities in local community, cardinal cushing offers on-site vocational programs including an industrial arts center, greenhouse, culinary arts and several retail sites.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 89% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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; 66th 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: 16.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $34.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $315K · 25 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.