New Opportunities Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
066071847
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waterbury, CT, USA
Phone
2035759799
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,116,811
Expenses
$41,671,504
Assets
$13,959,412
Liabilities
$18,827,761

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM R RYBCZYK (PRESIDENT/CEO (FORMER))
  • JAMES H GATLING PHD (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • WILLIAM R RYBCZYK (PRESIDENT/CEO (FORMER)): $268,569 total reported compensation
  • MARK E KOVITCH (CFO): $186,714 total reported compensation
  • OMAR ANDUJOR (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFIC): $157,982 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 improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged individuals by providing the necessary resources to increase their standard of living, foster self improvement, and to maximize self empowerment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ct food 4 thought (ctf4t) provides safe, clean "green jobs" to members of the community in the emerging field of hydroponics. Specifically, ctf4t offers job opportunities to individuals with intellectual disabilities, those previously incarcerated, and those who are unemployed as a way to provide a path to higher level employment opportunities in both this industry and others, such as: the field of nutrition, food safety, environmental management, and horticulture. In addition, ctf4t provided over 374,400 four ounces containers of lettuce to local communities including food pantries throughout Connecticut to economically disadvantaged individuals and 89 grocery stores.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 87% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.
  • 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -12.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.35; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $39M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 26 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.9M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.