Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311252085
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6142287191
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Dispute Resolution, Mediation Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$917,778
Expenses
$895,306
Assets
$525,808
Liabilities
$190,885

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shelley Whalen (Executive Director)
  • Clement Pyles Esquire (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shelley Whalen (Executive Director): $92,026 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Devoted to reducing the harmful physical, emotional and economic effects of unmanaged or mismanaged conflict on culturally diverse individuals, families, organizations and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

For the period January 1,2024 to December 31, 2024, CMS Housing Stability/Homelessness Prevention Program provided services to a total of 2,359 Tenants with a total of 6,073 Household Members.1923 Tenants w/4949 Household Members were provided the Programs Tenant/Landlord Eviction Prevention Mediation Services and an additional 436 tenants with 1,124 Household Members were provided the programs FREE 2.5 Tenant Eviction Prevention Education Workshop.The agencys Tenant/Landlord Conflict Mediation Services provided disputing tenants and landlords involved in eviction related disputes with access to specially trained, impartial mediators by phone as well as on site daily at Franklin County Municipal Court where more than 21,000 eviction proceedings were filed (more than in any other area of Ohio).98% of the tenants provided the programs tenant/landlord mediation services were able to reach an agreement with the landlord that allowed for the tenant to maintain stable housing. Approximately 72% of those settlements were Pay and Stay agreements that allowed the tenant to get caught up on overdue back rent so that they could remain in their current housing and avoid the need for emergency shelter. The other 28% of agreements reached were Voluntary Move Out Arrangements that resulted in the tenant receiving additional time to move so they could successfully relocate to alternative stable housing and the eviction judgement against the tenant being dismissed in the court record.This program also provided 436 additional low-income individuals with 1124 household members at risk of eviction with a 2.5 Hour Eviction Prevention Education Workshop. This training was designed to help targeted tenants understand the 10 most dangerous myths about eviction and how to avoid its most harmful consequences, homelessness. More than 98% of tenant participants scored 80% or higher on a post workshop quiz designed to measure the tenants knowledge about the eviction process and how to avoid its harmful effects. During this past year CMS also assisted scores of tenants in applying for emergency rental assistance from a number of other community partners who were distributing these resources to eligible individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $875.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.4%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.9% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $880K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.