Outpost in the Burbs

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223774718
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Montclair, NJ, USA
Phone
9737446560
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$225,578
Expenses
$209,058
Assets
$180,941
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID AMLEN (President)
  • GAIL PRUSSLIN (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • DAVID AMLEN (President)
  • KEN KUHL (Trustee)
  • GAIL PRUSSLIN (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Outpost in the burbs is a nonprofit, all volunteer, outreach organization dedicated to building community through music, community service and cultural programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community service activities including workdays providing food and companionship to approx 300-400 needy persons at church and a free concert as part of the montclair summer center stage program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.2%; rating input score 91; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $184K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.