Soundview Empowerment Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881027401
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Westport, CT, USA
Phone
9176577884
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$117,984
Expenses
$166,263
Assets
$1,609,242
Liabilities
$511,432

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Ian Warburg (Vice Chairman)
  • James Hood (Chairman)
  • Merrily Bodell (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To preserve in perpetuity, via acquisition, a historic and significant building and use it to educate the public by supporting and promoting appreciation of rich, local history and maintaining the general publics access to it.

What it reported doing in 2025

SEA has preserved, and continued the historic use of, the Old Mill Grocery building. It is the oldest retail food establishment in the town of Westport, CT, operating continuously for 107 years. We have done so by purchasing the building through a community fundraising effort and renting it to tenant(s). As planned, we have also added to the legacy use of the building by providing inclusive empowerment opportunities, including life-skills training and job-training that will lead to long-term employment opportunities for people with disabilities and special needs. SEA intends to preserve the building in perpetuity and continue to provide additional empowerment services as described above.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 71% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -40.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.68; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 70.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -87.1% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $155K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.