Northstar Special Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510579524
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Owings Mills, MD, USA
Phone
4104155887
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Residential Mental Health Treatment

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,192,791
Expenses
$7,149,092
Assets
$7,611,645
Liabilities
$1,641,230

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MILTON BUDD (VICE PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
  • THOMAS POINTER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS POINTER (PRESIDENT): $145,843 total reported compensation
  • ROBIN POINTER (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $122,705 total reported compensation
  • TONYETTA WILLIAMS (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $100,562 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The organization's purpose is to provide quality housing, supervision, and support services for developmentally disabled persons that enable them to develop and effectively utilize self-determination and self-advocacy skills, to make meaningful life choices and to attain their chosen outcomes while living successfully in the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Employment services: the organization is licensed by mdh to provide vocational services (such as assessment activities, job training, work skill training and placement programs, training in social skills, safety skills, work related hygiene training and other work skills) to individuals who are at a higher functioning level.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.2% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $673K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.