United Way of Rhode Island Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
050276059
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Providence, RI, USA
Phone
4014440600
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,669,367
Expenses
$26,593,090
Assets
$30,110,151
Liabilities
$6,830,580

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CORTNEY NICOLATO (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CORTNEY NICOLATO (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $355,865 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT BUSH (CHIEF STRATEGY & OPERATIONS OFFICER): $227,437 total reported compensation
  • LARRY WARNER (CHIEF IMPACT & EQUITY OFFICER): $186,549 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

United way's mission is uniting our community and resources to build racial equity and opportunities for all rhode islanders.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community impact program: a total of $5,912,530 to provide resources to help solve compelling social and educational needs in ri, complete research and analytics of those needs, and administer grants; this includes $1,697,644 to run the 2-1-1 call center in ri, answering over 200,000 calls for those in need; $1,601,208 to provide adrc for seniors & disability services, as contracted with ri office of healthy aging; $759,865 to support the advocacy work; $2,543,000 related to workforce development expenditures in programs under the leadership of the ri office of postsecondary education; $325,960 to enable volunteers throughout ri; information on our volunteer work and opportunities can be found at www.unitedwayri.org/volunteer.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 43% for direct work, and 57% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 60.8%; rating input score 61; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 29th 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: 0.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $23M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $356K · 35 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $758K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 35 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • 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: 290 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 283 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.