Downeast Community Partners Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010288757
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Ellsworth, ME, USA
Phone
2076642424
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's, Youth Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,275,994
Expenses
$14,584,018
Assets
$13,818,288
Liabilities
$5,403,956

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLES RUDELITCH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • REBECCA PALMER (EXECUTIVE DI): $133,808 total reported compensation
  • KRIS FRANKLIN (FINANCE DIRE): $34,327 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Downeast community partners' mission is to improve the quality of life and reduce the impact of poverty in downeast communities.

What it reported doing in 2022

Early care and education head start - a free preschool program for children ages 3 to 5 years until eligible for kindergarten. It is funded through the administration for children and families (acf), office of head start and the Maine department of health and human services. Grantees are expected to raise 20% of the cost of the program through local contributions of cash or in-kind goods and services. The federal program targets children liviing at or below the federal poverty rate but allows enrollment of children from other income levels under the strict guidelines. At least 10% of children enrolled must have a diagnosed disability. Early head start - a program for infants and toddlers until age 3 and is also funded through acf. Downeast community partners receives early head start funding through a contract with the state of Maine. Eligibility guidelines are the same as the head start program. Child care - dcp offers child care services through a fee for service basis. We accept state subsidies from parents who are eligible. We also offer a sliding fee scale based on a family's income. Regardless of funding source, all children enrolled in dcp's center-based programs are offered the comprehensive services associated with head start.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 82% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $362.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.2%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.95; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $13M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.