Unica
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 850165284
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
- Location
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Phone
- 5052710329
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Family Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $10,718,208
- Expenses
- $13,445,192
- Assets
- $16,493,571
- Liabilities
- $3,078,648
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KRISZTINA UDVARDI (PRESIDENT &)
Highest reported compensation
- KRISZTINA UDVARDI (PRESIDENT &): $192,962 total reported compensation
- TANIA VALDEZ (CHIEF PROGRA): $144,933 total reported compensation
- BRIAN BRIDGES (CFO & CAO): $140,505 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We empower and support our community by providing trauma-informed comprehensive care across the lifespan.
What it reported doing in 2024
Placement services: placement services includes unica's adoption services, home study services, and the New Mexico fiesta project. Unica's adoption services supports adoptive, foster, and kinship families through counseling, placement coordination, case management, and connection to community resources. Our trauma-informed approach helps strengthen family relationships, promote permanency, and ensure long-term stability. Home study services are conducted through a contract with the New Mexico children, youth, and families department (cyfd) to provide detailed assessments and recommendations for licensure for both prospective foster families, kinship guardianship, and cyfd adoptive families throughout the state of New Mexico. Unica leads the nm fiesta project (family involvement, engagement, support, training & advocacy) to strengthen New Mexico's foster, adoptive, and kinship families. The program offers support groups, community events, a lending library, and a warm line to connect families with resources, peer support, and training that promote resilience and belonging. Expenses: 1,456,427 revenues: 636,740 forensic services program (children's safehouse): children's safehouse is a forensic interview program that works with law enforcement, child welfare, and legal partners to conduct age-appropriate, legally defensible forensic interviews for children (ages 2-18) and vulnerable adults who have experienced neglect, abuse or witnessed a violent crime. Our multidisciplinary approach ensures that children share their stories in a safe, trauma-informed setting while reducing the need for repeated interviews. Family advocates provide critical support, connecting families to mental health services and guiding them toward long-term healing. During this fiscal year, 948 clients received interviews and/or victim advocacy through the agency's forensic services program. Expenses: 1,441,173 revenue: 586,229 training institute: through the training institute, unica provides continuing education and specialized training for professionals in trauma response, child welfare, and behavioral health. Our programs promote best practices, collaboration, and workforce development across New Mexico. Expenses: 110,585 revenues: 6,793
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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.
- 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 27th 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: -25.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $10.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 20 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $765K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.