Muslim American Society – Boston Chapter

What it reported doing in 2018

Mas boston mainly provided programs through the islamic society of boston cultural center (isbcc). On occasion, mas boston offers programs at other greater boston institutions, community centers, and mosques. During 2018, mas boston had three areas of focus: spiritual development and education: the isbcc offers its congregants the five daily prayers, the weekly congregational sermon/prayer (khutbah) on fridays attended by 1500+ worshippers, the friday night spiritual lessons (halaqas), islamic knowledge workshops, seasonal religious holidays programming (ramadan, eid ul-fitr, and eid ul-adha), one-on-one spiritual counseling, a vibrant religious youth program (deen14), islam 101 classes for people interested in learning islam and/or newly converted muslims, tours for people of other faiths and students of all ages, and classes on reading and memorizing the quran on saturdays and sundays through the mas quran institute. Through the boston islamic seminary program (bis), mas boston conducted educational programs, classes, seminars and certificate programs to provide authentic islamic education to all people.building a strong community: mas boston offers two strong identity and community building youth programs at the isbcc: arkanum (a 12-16 year old program with over 70 youth) and mas youth waves (a recently launched late high school-college student program). In 2014, mas boston also launched a sustainers program. Sustainers are individuals who volunteer, donate, and guide major organizational decisions. Today there are nearly 670 "sustainers". Our sustainers are an incredibly diverse group of 64 ethnicities, from various socio-economic backgrounds. At quarterly meetings, they discuss the needs of the diverse pockets of our community. Their voices have transformed the isbcc and its direction. Moreover, mas boston also operates the common word cafe' program - an open space where conversations between muslims and people of other faiths help build a stronger community. Mas boston through their health team also offers mental health workshops, mental health counseling, health screenings, and parenting workshops. Through partners, mas boston offers a monthly food pantry and weekly english as a second language (esl) courses. Finally, mas boston also seeks to build community among area mosques. In 2016 a mosque collaboration initiative (masajid collaboration) was launched, which brings together 13 area mosques to learn from one another and share best practices.serving the common ground: our service programming includes our neighbors for neighbors initiative, teaming constituents with non-muslim neighbors to address neighborhood concerns (they have already won promises from local authorities to renovate areas of the neighborhood); and weekly at-risk youth program, funded by boston children's hospital, to keep our low-income, primarily black youth from falling into drug use, gangs, and/or prison.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
• Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $15.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 8th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • 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: 6.2%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings