CHARA Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874494575
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Stamford, CT, USA
Phone
2036447101
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,660
Expenses
$13,955
Assets
$7,560
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Fred Givens (Vice President)
  • Kerri Riccardo (President)

People named in this filing

  • Fred Givens (Vice President)
  • Kerri Riccardo (President)
  • David Traub (Treasurer)

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

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

Overview

Mission

CHARA is dedicated to fostering meaningful conversations around racial justice and improving the college experience for students of color.

What it reported doing in 2025

Ambassador Program - Each year there are two student ambassadors who help promote the efforts of the organization. There is a mentor program running for current students.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -109.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 80.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -32% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -20.3% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $9K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.