The Boston Harbor Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237357919
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6172238671
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$741,685
Expenses
$741,733
Assets
$322,063
Liabilities
$232,769

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VIVIEN LI (PRESIDENT (THROUGH SEPT 2015))
  • JULIE WORMSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIE WORMSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $132,870 total reported compensation
  • VIVIEN LI (PRESIDENT (THROUGH SEPT 2015)): $99,653 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

An association of individuals, corporations, and organizations allied to enable a clean, vital, and accessible boston harbor and to promote understanding of its relationship to the region.

What it reported doing in 2015

To enhance boston harbor through promoting a clean, alive, and accessible waterfront. In addition, monitoring water quality, supporting beach restoration, supporting water transportation network, educating youth and others through various public serivce inititatives, promoting a "green" working port, and promoting public understanding and action on climate change and sea level rise as it affects boston harbor and the waterfront.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.3%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 35 of 35 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $568K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $133K · 37 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2015
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.