Valo

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833292625
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Freeport, ME, USA
Phone
2078651665
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Centers, Clubs

Reported finances

Revenue
$260,800
Expenses
$440,877
Assets
$733,717
Liabilities
$22,081

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANA ANDERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • Fiona Chace-Donahue (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANA ANDERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,250 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We believe in the power of teens to build community, one meaningful connection at a time. We believe in teens' capacity to discover who they are, what they believe, and their ability to bring light and love to the world. Valo creates spaces where teens can get away from it all, feel independent, unplug, and have fun. A place of belonging for youth to have deep conversations and feel empowered as they ignite a future with hope.

What it reported doing in 2025

Exploratory: Took teens on 6 weekend retreats in 2025. On these retreats, guides helped teens come to know themselves and learn how to connect meaningfully with others (while unplugged) through communal living, conversation, time in nature, creating, time to themselves, safe risk taking, and journal reflections. Additionally, seniors in the group took on leadership roles by designing and leading many aspect of the retreats, most significantly group conversations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -69%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -35.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -18.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $356K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.