Grow Brooklyn Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261410513
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 3476825606
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Financial Counseling
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,585,041
- Expenses
- $1,960,025
- Assets
- $1,011,606
- Liabilities
- $565,402
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Samira Rajan (Board Member): $152,332 total reported compensation
- Charles Harris (Director of Legal): $109,906 total reported compensation
- Makeela Brathwaite (Executive Dir.): $94,751 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Grow brooklyn is a brooklyn based non-profit organization whose mission is to enable members of its community to preserve and grow their assets, thereby securing their economic future.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grow brooklyn provides free tax preparation services to low- and moderate-incomeindividuals and families through the IRS volunteer income tax assistance (vita)program. During the tax year, the organization prepared over 9,500 federal and statetax returns, helping taxpayers accurately file and access critical tax credits, including the earned income tax credit (eitc) and child tax credit (ctc).grow brooklyn also serves approximately 1,000 self-employed individuals and eligiblesmall businesses annually, many of whom are itin holders, through the New York statedepartment of consumer and worker protections self-employment tax preparation(setp)initiative. The organizations commitment to financial empowerment extends beyond tax season through year-round support and referrals designed to help individuals maximize refunds, improve financial literacy, and access public benefits. These services contribute to increased financial stability for low- and moderate-income new yorkers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 77% 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 - 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: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 17
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Limited
- 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: -23.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $152K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.