Ladders to Leaders Ltd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472469738
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Smithsburg, MD, USA
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Personal Social Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$561,499
Expenses
$524,999
Assets
$147,687
Liabilities
$1,605

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EVA KELLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ALICIA DEVINS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EVA KELLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $45,922 total reported compensation
  • ALICIA LEBON (PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATOR): $12,240 total reported compensation
  • TERRENCE HUTTON (HOUSE MANAGER): $3,225 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Housing, support, recovering addiction

What it reported doing in 2024

Operate two rented recovery houses charge a nominal rents for room we reconginze that those in recovery need considerable social, mental and moral support. This is provided by our house managers, executive direct and case manager job prepartion: this includes teaching financial literacy, budgeting, resume building and research employment opportunities to share donated items that can not be used by the non-profit with other non-profit that can use items

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 41% for direct work, and 59% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 75% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 48.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 88.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $464K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.