Sound Start Babies Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 223473606
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Mountain Lakes, NJ, USA
- Phone
- 9733970009
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,120,694
- Expenses
- $1,282,023
- Assets
- $2,265,268
- Liabilities
- $47,882
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARGHERITA MOZER (VICE PRESIDENT)
- ALEX MITCHELL (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LORRAINE SOLIMINE (PROGRAM COORDINATOR): $95,805 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of sound start babies program is to ensure that infants and todd lers ident ified with hearing loss and their families receive the highest quality, research va lidated educational services provided by individuals who are selected for their knowledge and sensitivity in meeting the varied needs of the chi ldren and families they serve. The program offers a range of services and communication options respecting family choice and unique child characteristics. The goal of the program is for children with hearing loss to develop language, speech, and communication skills commensurate with those of hearing peers and for their parents and other caregivers to have the information and st rategies to foster this development throughout childhood .
What it reported doing in 2024
The sound start babies program has helped more than 1,600 children from northern andcentral New Jersey achieve listening, speaking, and communication skills that are the foundation for academic success and independent adult functioning. The program is partially supported by reimbursement for services provided from the new jerseydepartment of health and through tuition payments from community children enrolled in the nursery program.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95.4%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -14.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 95.4% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $96K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.