Silver Lining Mentoring Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043575764
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Waltham, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6178305528
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Child Matching Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,691,975
- Expenses
- $3,696,994
- Assets
- $8,344,269
- Liabilities
- $251,360
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- COLBY SWETTBERG (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
Highest reported compensation
- COLBY SWETTBERG (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $257,200 total reported compensation
- KRISTIN HOWARD (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $192,677 total reported compensation
- ALAINA ROSENBERRY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $191,813 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Silver lining mentoring's mission is to empower youth impacted by foster care to thrive through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life skills.
What it reported doing in 2025
Silver lining mentoring's community based mentoring program matches youth impacted by foster care in greater boston with trained volunteer mentors in one-to-one relationships. Mentors commit to spending time with their mentees in person in the community each month, offering consistent support, encouragement, and connection. While mentors make an initial one-year commitment, the average match lasts four years, more than twice the national average. Supported by slm staff, these relationships help youth build trust, confidence, life skills, and a stronger sense of belonging. For many youth in foster care, mentors are the only consistent adult in their lives who is not paid to spend time with them.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 65% 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: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.4%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.26; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 32.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 85.4% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $257K · 20 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: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.