Treehouse Foundation

Legal name: The Treehouse Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223848537
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Easthampton, MA, USA
Phone
413-527-7966
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,389,032
Expenses
$2,060,004
Assets
$4,665,086
Liabilities
$107,554

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH CARLAN (PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTY BOUDREAU (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ERIKA KUESTER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • GRIET DEHANDSCHUTTER (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $128,068 total reported compensation
  • ERIKA KUESTER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $124,235 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire a re-envisioning of foster care, addressing the national 'aging out' crisis.

What it reported doing in 2024

To establish a intergenerational residential community for families adopting children from foster care and older adults.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 52.3%; rating input score 52
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd 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: -48.3%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.26; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 52.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 11 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $205K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.