Pennsylvania Association for the Blind

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231396837
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Phone
7177662020
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,253,237
Expenses
$5,088,824
Assets
$6,588,426
Liabilities
$161,005

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DANIEL ZALEWSKI (EXECUTIVE DI): $87,637 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 prevent unnecessary blindness and promoting the physical, social and economic self-sufficiency for the commonwealth's blind and visually impaired population. The association functions as an executive office for a network of 26 member agencies to expand the association into 66 counties of the commonwealth

What it reported doing in 2024

Training and supportive services (tss) for persons with vision impairment and provision of preschool vision screening and eye safety education (pse).

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.1%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $149.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.1%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.1% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 31 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 34 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.