Cradles to Crayons Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043584367
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Newton, MA, USA
Phone
6177794700
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Thrift Shops

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,417,013
Expenses
$52,046,353
Assets
$29,857,874
Liabilities
$7,421,375

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINE LOUISE MORIN (CEO AND PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE LOUISE MORIN (CEO AND PRESIDENT): $290,388 total reported compensation
  • KAREN GALLAHUE (CFO, TREASURER): $263,039 total reported compensation
  • CONNIE OLSON (COO): $256,752 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cradles to crayons provides children, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive at home, at school and at play. We supply these items(clothing, diapers, outerwear, backpacks) free of charge by engaging and connecting communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization executes its mission by mobilizing widespread community and civic participation. At the community level, the organization partners with schools, corporations, faith-based organizations, and other community groups to conduct drives for children's goods and to obtain volunteers in its warehouse. In addition, the organization partners with a network of diverse social service agencies that order and distribute the organization's packages to individual children receiving services from those agencies. By involving individuals and local private, not-for-profit, and public-sector organizations in its mission, the organization is able to address the immediate needs of children, build long-term community ownership of the organization's mission, and raise awareness about the critical issues of poverty, homelessness and clothing insecurity. For the year ended march 31, 2026, the organization procured and distributed 8,591,250 diapers, 126,353 winter coats, 65,382 hygiene kits, and 1,794,403 articles of clothing to 351,707 children, among meeting other essential needs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th 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: -5.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $46.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $290K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $256K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.