Community Stepping Stones Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
593547077
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Phone
8135154929
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$296,237
Expenses
$252,044
Assets
$55,729
Liabilities
$1,405

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Georgia Vahue (Current Board Member and Former Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Georgia Vahue (Current Board Member and Former Executive Director): $19,250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

In one of the lowest income neighborhoods in Tampa Sulphur Springs the organization offers an out-of-school arts-integrated curriculum designed to inspire educate and mentor at-risk children to become successful adults.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community Stepping Stones has multiple services in fulfilling our mission. Our classroom along the banks of the Hillsborough River in Sulphur Springs provides a tranquil environment to learn critical thinking skills craftsmanship and mentor youth. 1 Art Camp is for students 5-13. Its in session after-school during the school year and all day during the summer. Students learn essential artistic and life lesson techniques to build their character. Over 2,000 student days were recorded and is a free program. 2 First Jobs offers neighborhood teens who have aged out of Art Camp paid opportunities to gain work experience while assisting with classes. First Jobs students act as teacher aides while learning the basics of having a job. 16 teens participated. 3 Art Box delivers arts and crafts directly to youth in the neighborhood. Art Boxes comes with supplies for a pre-packaged craft and seasonal goodies. Over 600 Art Boxes were distributed. This is a free program. 4 Outreach provides our teaching artists to other organizations. We develop lesson plans that supports the theme the organization desires in engaging and developing their students. Over 1,600 participants. 5 Internships are available for college students to prepare lesson plans and work with our students to meet their college course requirements. 20 interns were provided this opportunity. There is no charge for this program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 76% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 93.5%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.9%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.5% of revenue deployed · 93.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $236K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $19K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.