Columbia Association
Legal name: Columbia Association Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 520823992
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Columbia, MD, US
- Phone
- 410-715-3000
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $86,059,768
- Expenses
- $75,426,944
- Assets
- $182,228,197
- Liabilities
- $41,747,833
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Susan Krabbe (Senior Vice President/CFO/Secretary)
- Dan Burns (Vice President, Community Programs Services)
- Jeremy Scharfenberg (Vice President of Community Operations)
- Dennis Mattey (Interim President/CEO/VP Community Operations)
- Shawn Maclnnes (President/CEO)
- Lakey Boyd (President/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Susan Krabbe (Senior Vice President/CFO/Secretary): $289,694 total reported compensation
- John Kuchno (General Counsel/Assistant Secretary): $255,597 total reported compensation
- Dan Burns (Vice President, Community Programs Services): $253,806 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To enhance the quality of life for the people of Columbia, Maryland, by providing a wide range of community services, programs, and amenities.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Community Operations Department maintains CAs buildings and facilities, community tot lots, pathways, parks, lakes, and RV storage area and provides landscaping and mowing of these areas for community use. In addition, the Community Operations Department manages CAs environmental stewardship initiatives and fosters community participation in green energy through a solar co-operative and ongoing collaboration with the regional utilities provider. Mowing and general maintenance continue to be prioritized, including repairs and maintenance of tot lots, pathways and pedestrian bridges in the open space. Keeping Columbias open space clean and well maintained continued to be a high priority as people went outdoors to exercise, socialize and maintain their mental wellness safely.
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 94% 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. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.4%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 12.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.42; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 74.4% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $63.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $290K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.8M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 35 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 37 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.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.