Mary Cariola Center
Legal name: Mary Cariola Children's Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 160771078
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Rochester, NY, USA
- Phone
- (585) 271-0761, ext. 1633
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $47,934,885
- Expenses
- $43,545,063
- Assets
- $32,196,684
- Liabilities
- $15,560,730
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KAREN ZANDI (CEO/PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- KAREN ZANDI (CEO/PRESIDENT): $213,915 total reported compensation
- CHRISTINE SHEFFER (SUPERINTENDENT): $146,615 total reported compensation
- WILLIAM COLLINS (DIR. OF AGENCY ADVANCEMENT): $133,198 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 provide personalized encouragement and support to individuals with complex developmental disabilities, helping them achieve their fullest potential.
What it reported doing in 2024
Therapeutic respite - most of the same highly trained employees provide therapeutic respite services within our ira and implement the same habilitative and behavioral programming that is developed for the individual through the family support services. It is the third serivce in our unique package of services supporting families with children who have significant behavioral challenges. The children have regularly scheduled stays in the ira so that their families can have a much needed break and spend time with their other children and take care of other life events. High levels of oversight and monitoring are included in this service.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some related-organization disclosures are missing.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.2%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 89.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 12 filed program accomplishments · $38.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 30 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 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: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.