Melmark

Legal name: Melmark Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
236399542
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berwyn, PA, United States
Phone
1-610-325-4700
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Residential Care & Adult Day Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$78,607,978
Expenses
$72,151,255
Assets
$168,855,420
Liabilities
$24,545,275

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RITA M GARDNER MPH LABA BCBA (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • FRANK BIRD MED LABA BCBA (Executive Vice President)
  • THOMAS J CROFCHECK CPA (Vice President & CFO)
  • WILLIAM AHEARN MBA CPA (VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS)
  • MARGARET HAAG MED BCBA LSW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PENNSYLVANIA)

Highest reported compensation

  • RITA M GARDNER MPH LABA BCBA (PRESIDENT/CEO): $854,988 total reported compensation
  • FRANK BIRD MED LABA BCBA (Executive Vice President): $419,809 total reported compensation
  • HELENA MAGUIRE MS LABA BCBA (VP and Chief Clinical Officer): $374,588 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Melmark is a multi-state human service provider with premier private special education schools, professional development, training, and research centers. We are committed to enhancing the lives of individuals within diverse communities with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families by providing exceptional evidence-based and applied behavior analytic services to every individual, every day.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adult day programs (berwyn, pa): melmark's adult day services provides day programming for over 174 individuals with moderate-to-profound intellectual and physical disabilities. Programs emphasize pre-vocational, wellness, daily living, social, and communication skills. Community inclusion is a key goal of the program. Enrichment activities include: volunteer support for local churches and charities environmentally-friendly recycling projects field trips to local shopping, recreational and cultural centers a variety of work assignments and participation in special olympics. For adults with lower cognitive levels or who are non-ambulatory, the program offers: multi-sensory stimulation, hand-over-hand training to teach functional life skills and provide personal assistance. Adult day community program follows a supported employment model (staff oversight and support) and addresses: vocational skills training (job sampling and shadowing), service learning, life skills training (safety, travel, personal finances, self-care), self-determination and decision making. The overall goal of the adult day community program is to assist each individual in identifying a job opportunity that allows them to grow and enjoy their work. After assessing skills and interest, adults are provided with a variety of work community-based and instructional experiences ranging from on-campus training programs, to job sampling, to independent paid employment opportunities in the community. Melmark works with a number of community-based employers and organizations, and looks forward to expanding its present ties with businesses in the community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% 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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 41st 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: 8.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.34; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $65.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $855K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.8M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 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: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.