The Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 060813725
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Danbury, CT, USA
- Phone
- 2037444700
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Urban, Community Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $14,117,533
- Expenses
- $13,666,393
- Assets
- $4,941,030
- Liabilities
- $1,859,785
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHELLE JAMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHELLE JAMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $192,985 total reported compensation
- ANDREW DRAP (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $116,032 total reported compensation
- JANE BUCHER (ASSISTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR): $81,851 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The community action agency of western Connecticut is a private non-profit corporation serving western Connecticut. Its primary purpose is to operate a multi-purpose organization to combat poverty and promote self sufficiency among low income individuals.
What it reported doing in 2025
Community services - provided housing mediation neighborhood services, counseling, and emergency food distribution and other services to assist the needy individuals of the community.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 82% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $83.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 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: 3.2%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $12.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.