Viability

Legal name: Viability Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510178661
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Springfield, MA, US
Phone
413.781.5359
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Vocational Rehabilitation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$44,834,853
Expenses
$38,513,712
Assets
$59,045,019
Liabilities
$8,803,215

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • COLLEEN HOLMES (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
  • CYNTHIA MELLOR (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • COLLEEN HOLMES (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $311,575 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN CAULEY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $206,406 total reported compensation
  • JANICE BROWN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $187,170 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Build a world in which individuals with disabilities and other disadvantages realize acceptance, inclusion, and access.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community engagement services - viability, inc. Serves adults with disabilities or disadvantages in psycho-social clubhouse model programs, day habilitation programs and community-based day services. Each program model serves to break down the walls of stigma, and barriers to access by providing opportunities for program members to build skills, pursue interests and education, socialize, and contribute their skills and talents within their program and their communities. Guided by what our program members identfiy as their own interests, preferences, and goals, we develop customized plans and opportunities ranging from soft skills to money management to applying for college to volunteering to health and wellness. Our members grow community gardens for their cities, serve as disability advocates, perform outreach, produce radio shows, help train interns, hold craft fairs and more. In our clubhouse international accredited clubhouse programs, employment and a work-ordered day where members are colleagues helping to run the club's operations are the focus. Our services are also carf accredited.

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 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Some related-organization disclosures are missing and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 14.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $32.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $312K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.