Spark Kindness Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465037162
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Natick, MA, USA
Phone
5082691127
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$428,826
Expenses
$375,851
Assets
$225,607
Liabilities
$11,585

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE FORTUNE GUTHERY (Exec. Director): $72,116 total reported compensation
  • MICHELE MAROTTA (ASSOC. EX. DIR.): $60,960 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Spark stands for successful positive authentic resilient kids. Spark's mission is to build a kind, resilient and welcoming community where no one feels alone, bullied, unsupported or unconnected. We support families, schools, organizations, coaches, artists, faith and community leaders in building a culture that empowers individuals (including youth and families) and promotes kindness and respect. Spark's motto is kindess without justice is incomplete.spark's vision is to cultivate a network of connected individuals and organizations throughout the commonwealth that work together at the grassroots level to support kindness, resilience and inclusion.

What it reported doing in 2024

Spark's programs and impacts include: the resilient community speaking series - spark hosts 20-30 educational speaker events annually, with an average attendance of 250-400 community members per event. All resilient community programs are offered in american sign language and we offer multilingual programming in portuguese and spanish.small group programming - workshops, monthly groups and retreats to provide deeper interaction with spark principles and practices. These small groups provide assistance for families who need more intensive support, including parents with students with special needs or from different cultural backgrounds. Most recently, spark has adapted our programming addressing individual and family resilience and well-being for collaborative work with agencies serving families experiencing homelessness, as well as developing programming for portuguese speaking parents and caregivers.inclusion and antiracism leadership - spark has a specific focus on promoting inclusion and addressing racism through our internal work, our programming and our leadership roles with organizations in metrowest boston.active and ongoing community building - spark partners with local and regional community organizations that are aligned with our mission toward the goal of promoting a web of support for individuals and families. Metrowest anti-bullying coalition - spark is the convener of the metrowest anti-bullying coalition, an innovative, community-wide approach to addressing identity-based bullying and all other forms of bullying. Feedback from program attendees and community partners consistently reinforces that spark is meeting a need in natick/metrowest and surrounding communities like no other group and that through connection with our organization's staff, online resources and programs, individuals feel more connected, supported and better able to address the challenges they are facing with new tools, approaches and a positive mindset.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.5%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.5% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $277K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.