Handson Central Ohio Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 311084722
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Columbus, OH, USA
- Phone
- 6142247200
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $961,462
- Expenses
- $1,077,715
- Assets
- $2,673,962
- Liabilities
- $1,864,938
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RACHEL LUSTIG (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- RACHEL LUSTIG (PRESIDENT & CEO): $313,109 total reported compensation
- PHILIP HELSER (CFO: THROUGH 5/24): $128,017 total reported compensation
- FIKRU NIGUSSE (INTERIM CFO 5/24-6/24;CFO 7/24-1/25): $103,648 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To align community resources and generate insights that strengthen central Ohio.
What it reported doing in 2024
Handson central Ohio (lss 211 central Ohio) is the largest, airs accredited information and referral service in Ohio and connects people, local resources and service organizations to opportunity. We make it easier for people to navigate central Ohio's social service landscape and provide easier access to resources in ways that keep pace with the increasing needs of a growing region. In fye2025, community members reached out 160,370 times to lss 211 looking for support and referral.
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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 92
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 99.9%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $22.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -12.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.48; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 99.9% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $949K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $313K · 18 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Related organizations: 30 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.