Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237172270
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Allentown, PA, USA
Phone
6103982563
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,636,435
Expenses
$1,562,246
Assets
$2,320,995
Liabilities
$85,430

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA LUCIANO (PRESIDENT)
  • BROOKE GRIFFITHS (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DEBRAH CUMMINS STELLATO (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAMELA BECHTEL (EXECUTIVE DIR. UNTIL AUG 2017): $63,590 total reported compensation
  • DEBRAH CUMMINS STELLATO (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $13,725 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We enhance the wellness and independence of adults, who are primarily homebound, by providing nutritious meals and other supportive services.

What it reported doing in 2017

Meals on wheels of lehigh county delivers nutritiously balanced meals and provides grocery shopping to homebound adults who are unable to shop or prepare meals for themselves due to advanced age, illness or disability. The service supports these individuals so they can remain healthy and independent in their homes for as long as possible. Volunteers deliver meals weekdays at lunchtime and provide a daily well-being check. In 2017, 945 volunteers delivered 168,414 meals to 890 unduplicated clients. By donating 45,358 hours and 161,145 miles using their own cars, the volunteers provide $554,082 of in-kind services. 65% of the people we serve are 75 years of age or older. 96% need part of their meals costs subsidized by the agency

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 4.5%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.4% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2015 to 2017
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.