Dress for Success Hartford County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061597429
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8605255015
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$223,365
Expenses
$219,716
Assets
$299,922
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBBIE WRIGHT (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARASWATI AVATAPALLI (EXECUTIVE DIR.): $90,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission for dress for success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

What it reported doing in 2025

Founded in 1998, dress for success hartford, in 2025 served 121 disadvantaged women and answered a vital need for career-building initiatives after welfare reform was instituted. The welfare overhaul in 1996 set time restrictions for public assistance recipients, which in turn forced heads of households into low-wage jobs. Because of the rapid increase in the number of poor, working women, they had become a very underserved segment of society. Through our programs and services, dress for success hartford was able to answer the needs of a growing, poverty-stricken workforce.our organization stems the underlying cause of cyclical poverty through grassroots programs that produce long-term solutions. By offering professional apparel, career development services, and ongoing employment retention programs we address the needs of our clients and promote economic security and self-sufficiency.in order to ensure that we are serving those most in need of our support, every client is referred to us through a network of partner agencies. These agencies include a variety of educational institutions, reentry programs for the formerly incarcerated, homeless and domestic violence shelters, rehabilitation programs, job training programs, and more. 120 partner agencies from the following ct counties refer women to dress for success hartford: hartford, litchfield, middlesex, new haven, new london, tolland, and windham.88% of the cost of our rented facility is allocated to program expenses. Most of the facility rental cost was covered by contributions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 - 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 41.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.6% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $193K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.