Old Lyme Childrens Learning Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222808283
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Old Lyme, CT, USA
Phone
8604341728
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$699,751
Expenses
$720,667
Assets
$1,041,885
Liabilities
$550,452

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KRISTEN ST GERMAIN (President)
  • STEPHANIE KIMBALL (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANA GATCHECK (Executive Dir.): $62,968 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 provide children the time and opportunities to grow, explore, and discover. The programs promote the development of children as creative individuals and as members of small groups.

What it reported doing in 2024

Daily activities and experiences are provided which enhance each child's sense of self-esteem and mastery skills. The goal is to provide a secure, safe and happy environment that fosters natural development of the whole child, which includes socio-emotional, cognitve, language and small and large motor skills. Due to a significant problem in the main house, all activities were closed on 02/2023. The building is undergoing major renovations that have not been completed yet.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 77.6%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.45; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 77.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $559K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.