Real Alternatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232868660
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Phone
7175411112
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Emergency Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,567,261
Expenses
$6,888,064
Assets
$2,105,339
Liabilities
$1,234,724

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN I BAGATTA ESQ (PresidentCEO): $428,689 total reported compensation
  • THOMAS A LANG ESQ (VP of Operations): $306,257 total reported compensation
  • CLIFFORD W MCKEOWN ESQ (VP of Administration): $90,210 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Real Alternatives creates, operates, and assists in the formation of life-affirming pregnancy and parenting support services programs for women throughout the country.

What it reported doing in 2024

When Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro did not renew the PA Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program, Real Alternatives began a Privately-Funded PA Program to empower women with pregnancy and parenting support. The start-up of this privately-funded PA program began in January 2024 following a fundraising campaign. The various start-up and continuing costs of this program include advocacy and educational materials, program administrative costs to pick-up where the government-funded program stopped, and most importantly, a highly successful advertising campaign to reach the women abandoned and alone. This campaign successfully enabled these women to find their closest pregnancy support center or maternity home.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

STRONG - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.1%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $429K · 8 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.