Center City Residents' Association of Philadelphia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231430638
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2155466719
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$140,742
Expenses
$200,509
Assets
$120,759
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • leo levinson (president - TERM 06/2025)
  • Michele Ettinger (vice president)
  • Barbara Halpern (vice president)
  • Charles Robin (vice president)
  • KATE FEDERICO (vice president)
  • NathanieL Margolies (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • leo levinson (president - TERM 06/2025)
  • Michele Ettinger (vice president)
  • Barbara Halpern (vice president)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Center city residents' association promotes urban living, advocates for a safe, clean, diverse and supportive community, pursues accountability, and encourages responsible development while preserving the neighborhood's historic heritage.

What it reported doing in 2024

Center city residents' association (ccra) is a registered community organization in the city of philadelphia. As such, it reviews and comments upon zoning variance requests and participates in civic design reviews as requested by the city of philadelphia. In doing this, it takes into account the concerns of the community regarding design, density, historic preservation, the streetscape, construction, traffic, the environment and workforce diversity, among other issues. Ccra also works with private developers to negotiate community benefit agreements designed to address the same types of community issues. Ccra advocates on behalf of the community on issues such as zoning and historic preservation, safe streets and sidewalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, crime, noise, trash, the environment, and good government. Ccra helps the community stay informed and educated on local issues through its website, weekly and quarterly newsletters and social media. It also hosts forums and other gatherings on issues of interest to the community. Ccra provides sidewalk cleaning in the community and operates a community garden.

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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -42.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.6% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $151K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 30 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.