Science Club for Girls Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
141892866
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6173910361
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Child Matching Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,607,574
Expenses
$2,162,439
Assets
$3,615,432
Liabilities
$226,176

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BONNIE BERTOLAET (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KELLEY M BORER-MILLER (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $148,580 total reported compensation
  • BONNIE BERTOLAET (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $142,166 total reported compensation
  • CRISTINA ULLMAN (SR. PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $136,143 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Science club for girls' mission is to foster excitement, confidence and literacy in stem for girls and gender-expansive youth from underrepresented communities, by providing free, experiential programs and by maximizing meaningful interactions with women-in-stem mentors.

What it reported doing in 2024

Scfg programs continued to grow in fy25 as they have since fy19 with an increasing rate during the pandemic and beyond. We held 2 two-week summer rocketry programs during the summer of 2024, and served over 960 participants in science clubs during the 2024-2025 academic year that met both in the fall and spring semester with 48% held in-person and 52% held virtually over zoom. Our students are girls and gender-expansive youth in grades k-12 from communities most underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) (80%) and come from 190 schools in the greater boston area and gateway cities. Scfg has engaged over 220 mentors in fy25, with 55% coming from the same underrepresented communities as the students. We held a february vacation week coding club and an april vacation week robotics and artificial intelligence club, both serving middle-school participants (40, 20 participants each, in grades 6-8). At the end of fy25, our online science tv show, scfglive! Had broadcast its eighth season with over 107 episodes in total, garnering over 420,000 views.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.4%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 59.2%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd 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: 17.1%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.67; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.4% of revenue deployed · 59.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $149K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.