Sweetser

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010211807
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saco, ME, USA
Phone
2072944400
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Children's, Youth Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$54,709,980
Expenses
$52,181,121
Assets
$52,055,867
Liabilities
$6,591,595

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jayne Van Bramer (CEO & Board Member)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jayne Van Bramer (CEO & Board Member): $312,109 total reported compensation
  • Dr Marc I Kaplan (Medical Director): $297,634 total reported compensation
  • John P McAnuff (Chief Financial Officer): $259,671 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sweetser is a behavioral health nonprofit that provides evidence-based treatment, support and hope through a statewide network of community-based mental health, recovery, and educational services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sweetser's caring and compassionate professionals connect over 12,000 children, adults, and family members with the mental health, recovery, and educational services they need and deserve. The Organization's roots are founded in residential care for children, dating back to 1828. Nationally recognized and accredited, Sweetser meets individuals where they are at as the largest provider of mobile crisis services in the state of Maine. Sweetser has three Hope & Healing Centers conveniently located in the underserved communities of Brunswick, Sanford, and Lewiston. These walk-in care clinics provide same-day access to care coordination for mental health and recovery needs. Mainers can get connected to services by calling our Promise Line at 1-800-434-3000, emailing [email protected], or visiting www.sweetser.org.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 44th 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: 4.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.1% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $41.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $312K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.