The Connection Fund Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 110017051
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Middletown, CT, USA
- Phone
- 8603435500
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,562,553
- Expenses
- $11,863,625
- Assets
- $13,423,572
- Liabilities
- $8,489,288
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LISA DEMATTEIS-LEPORE (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- LISA DEMATTEIS-LEPORE (CEO): $557,508 total reported compensation
- STEPHEN ABSHIRE (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $362,954 total reported compensation
- BETH CONNOR (CHIEF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $353,346 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Supporting and benefitting the purposes, goals, and mission of the connection, inc.: building safe, healthy, caring communities, and inspiring people to reach their full potential as productive and valued citizens.
What it reported doing in 2024
The program leases & develops real estate that is used by community based 501(c)(3) exempt organizations. The connection has a dedicated in-house training branch, the institute for innovative practice, which is a social enterprise that provides professional development, training and consultation to strengthen leadership, teams and organizational health.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% 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.
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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 41
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 44.7%; rating input score 45
- Program expense ratio: 43.6%; rating input score 44
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -9.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 44.7% of revenue deployed · 43.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $558K · 14 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $213K reported
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 7 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.