Downcity Design

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271125644
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Providence, RI, USA
Phone
4012728070
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$817,088
Expenses
$772,990
Assets
$2,484,713
Liabilities
$86,102

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ADRIENNE GAGNON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADRIENNE GAGNON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $106,648 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Downcity design offers free programs that help residents gain skills while strenghtening their communities, through the creation of service projects that harness the creative power of design.

What it reported doing in 2024

Downcity design provided free in-school, after school, and summer design education programs for over 250 providence county teens in 2024/2025. Our programs help students develop critical thinking, creative problem solving, and steam skills -- crucial skills for success in school and in life beyond -- while engaging in meaningful service work. This year, students designed and fabricated 9 new youth-designed, youth built service projects for community clients including providence planning, osamequin farm, sojourner house, southside community land trust, west broadway neighborhood association, saint martin de porres center, igliozzi recreation center, and the avenue concept.through a sucessful capital campaign effort, downity design successfully renovated their new community design center facility, which opened in spring 2024!

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.6%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 62%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 2nd 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.4%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.21; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.6% of revenue deployed · 62% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $479K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 26 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.