The Key Program Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042539878
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Westborough, MA, USA
Phone
5088773690
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Children's, Youth Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$51,390,594
Expenses
$45,016,943
Assets
$48,427,631
Liabilities
$9,344,551

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TAMMY MELLO (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL GOODWIN (DIRECTOR WESTERN MA OPS): $397,993 total reported compensation
  • TAMMY MELLO (PRESIDENT & CEO): $346,690 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA FOKAS (DIRECTOR HUMAN RESOURCES): $277,957 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Key's mission is to assist children and their families in developing positive life skills so they may pursue productive and rewarding lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Residential treatment program - key provides a full range of residential services to adolescents and young adults from the child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health systems, with lengths of stay varying from 3 to 18 months. Services include education, individual, group and family counseling, behavior management, recreational activities, advocacy and life skills training, including independent living. During the current year, key provided services to a total of 65 youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 38th 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: 12.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $39.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $398K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $601K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.