Stepping Stone Housing Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464169760
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Damariscotta, ME, USA
Phone
2075636215
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Temporary Housing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$837,767
Expenses
$297,495
Assets
$2,855,773
Liabilities
$976,091

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARILEE HARRIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KEN LYDECKER (DIRECTOR & PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARILEE HARRIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $42,769 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provision of low income housing the mission of stepping stone housing, inc. Is to provide low income housing to the residents of lincoln county Maine.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided low income housing for approximately 50 people during the year. Planned for further development of existing properties. Engaged in planning and capacity building to be able to serve more people. Acquired three properties during the year.

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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 31.3%; rating input score 31
  • Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 64.5%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.6; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 31.3% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $257K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 10 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 2017 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.