Raising a Reader Massachusetts

Legal name: Rar-ma Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800297898
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, United States
Phone
617-292-2665
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,378,746
Expenses
$1,599,551
Assets
$1,318,055
Liabilities
$142,970

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINE WARD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE WARD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $170,585 total reported compensation
  • KATEE DUFFY (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS & OPERATIONS): $128,320 total reported compensation
  • ANGELA M HAYNES (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $114,832 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 close the literacy opportunity gap among children from birth to age six in under-resourced communities by helping families develop and practice shared home reading habits. We act with open, honest, transparent, and respectful communication and challenge conventional wisdom with transparency to serve our constituents and maximize the support of our donors. We believe in a healthy work-life balance, including social-emotional balance, so we can better serve our constituents. Raising A Reader Massachusetts - 31st Annual Rodman Ride for Kids on Saturday, September 25th, 2021. Raising A Reader Massachusetts - Our Core Organizational Values - High Integrity High Integrity We act with open, honest, transparent, and respectful communication and challenge conventional wisdom with transparency to serve our constituents and maximize the support of our donors.

What it reported doing in 2024

Rar-ma teaches parents to share books with young children to build their language, literacy, cognitive, and school readiness skills, and fosters family engagement through parent outreach, coaching, and access to culturally relevant and age appropriate books. Our program is driven by more than 35 years of research that shows the most significant factor impacting a child's academic success is being regularly read to by a parent or caregiver before starting kindergarten. Rar-ma improves academic outcomes for all children, with a focus on low-income children and children whose first language is not english. Our goal is to end the literacy opportunity gap by helping families develop high-impact reading routines that lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning success and productive, responsible citizenship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $171K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.