N-step Forward

Legal name: New-service Training Employment Program Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831817071
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Havre De Grace, MD, US
Phone
(443) 502-2544
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$119,213
Expenses
$130,804
Assets
$73,430
Liabilities
$4,691

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SHARON JACOBS (EXECUTIVE DI): $700 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To assist and support adolescents and adults in workforce development to obtain sustainable employment through training, tutoring, and mentoring.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community development initative led by n-step to strengthen resident leaders to self-advocate for needed changes in their communities, whether education, public safety, housing, transportation, or other. As the lead agency, residents are grouped to work on community asset mapping, community profiles, and neighborhood forums.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -20.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -38.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.1% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $116K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $700 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.