Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042994233
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6174232223
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,914,822
Expenses
$4,147,127
Assets
$11,466,817
Liabilities
$3,088,047

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES KOSTARAS (CEO/PRESIDEN)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES KOSTARAS (CEO/PRESIDEN): $201,933 total reported compensation
  • GERALD PATTON (DIR. OF CONS): $124,862 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Seeking to put god's love into action, habitat for humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope to realize our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Greater boston habitat for humanity adheres to a strict non-proselytizing policy and will not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must adhere to or convert to a particular faith or listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.

What it reported doing in 2024

Homeownership program: families in need of a decent place to live build safe and affordable homes in partnership with us. Habitat houses are modestly sized. They are large enough for the homeowner family's needs, but small enough to keep construction and maintenance costs affordable. By using the labor of volunteers and prospective homeowners, employing efficient building methods, keeping house sizes modest, using donated construction materials and appliances, and issuing no-profit loans, habitat makes its houses affordable for low-income families to purchase. Affordable homeownership helps show that strong and stable households are foundational to child development and growth. When a home fosters - instead of hinders - health and safety, families can flourish. Owning an affordable home also allows homeowners to lift up their entire family by saving for their futures and investing in educational opportunities, bolstering job opportunities and career growth. During the fiscal year, greater boston habitat for humanity served people through its long-term homeownership program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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

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: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: 15.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.77; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58% of revenue deployed · 68.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $202K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.