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New York · Nonprofit

ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC

ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC (New York) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,196,464 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($1,176,767). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$24M
Funders on record
18
Grants received
$4.2M
Net assets
$-415961
13/18 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 3%
01What it does

What Action for a Better Community Inc does

Mission

Action for a better community is a community action agency that promotes and provides opportunities for low-income individuals and families to become self-sufficient.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Early childhood services: early childhood services delivers high-quality early childhood education, supports each child's growth and development, and works with the family to strengthen their outcomes through a whole-family approach. Each year, we serve more than 600 low-income families, ensuring that children make measurable gains in social-emotional development and kindergarten readiness. Abc actively engages parents in all aspects of the program, promotes responsible fatherhood, and builds family self-sufficiency through coaching, resources, and sustained support.

    $13,147,390 spentof which $360,200 as grants
    59% of program spending

  2. Youth & community services: community-based services that provide outpatient substance use services - including opioid treatment; youth services to promote academic progress and social/emotional development; adult self-sufficiency mentoring, job retention services; community economic development and community change initiatives focusing on poverty-reduction.

    $5,127,663 spentof which $194,867 as grants$1,015,398 earned by the program
    23% of program spending

  3. Energy conservation services: services to promote energy-efficiency, lower household energy costs and make housing for low-income families more safe and affordable.

    $2,947,049 spent
    13% of program spending

  4. Allocated direct costs

    $1,208,976 spent
    5% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $22,431,078.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($27M) Expenses 100 ($26M)2018 Revenue 100 ($26M) Expenses 101 ($26M)2019 Revenue 103 ($27M) Expenses 105 ($27M)2020 Revenue 99 ($26M) Expenses 101 ($26M)2021 Revenue 99 ($26M) Expenses 101 ($26M)2022 Revenue 101 ($27M) Expenses 102 ($27M)2023 Revenue 85 ($22M) Expenses 86 ($22M)2024 Revenue 85 ($23M) Expenses 87 ($23M)2025 Revenue 91 ($24M) Expenses 92 ($24M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (91)Expenses (92)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $4.8M to $13M (+163%).

$4.7M
$4.8M
$4.6M
$5.6M
$3.9M
$4.8M
$13M
$10.0M
$9.6M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 90% · 2018 89% · 2019 89% · 2020 91% · 2021 91% · 2022 91% · 2023 90% · 2024 91% · 2025 89%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

94% of ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (21% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 3,400 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$443k
’17
$40k
’18
$56k
’19
$138k
’20
−$2k
’21
$79k
’22
−$33k
’23
−$228k
’24
$256k
’25
0.2
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Jerome Underwood

President & CEO

Board chair

Brad Rye

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed222123242323212422
Joined·+8+6+1+0+12+3+6+8
No longer listed·9401125310
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $154k → $666k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
Rochesterworks Incunclassified
$670k
funders
5
4
7
7
8
8
11
11
3

5 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 17 of 18 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

46% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC.

28%
largest funder
67%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 89% · 2019 47% · 2020 44% · 2021 51% · 2022 56% · 2023 44% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

60% of ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

96% of ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC's grant income comes from New York funders.

NY
GA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC's funding base is broadening — from 5 funders to 11 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin1% · below the median
Months of reserve0.2mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−1% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $172.8M on record.

Federal$172.8M
grants $172.8Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services$172.8M

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In New York

Action for a Better Community Foundation Inc91%Association to Benefit Children85%Association to Benefit Children Hdfc83%Adirondack Community Action Programs Inc83%Addictions Care Center of Albany Inc83%Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County Inc82%Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency Inc82%Ulster County Community Action Committee Inc81%

Nationally

Action for a Better Community Foundation Inc91%Association to Benefit Children85%Akron Summit Community Action Inc83%Community Action of South Mississippi83%Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties83%Community Action for Improvement Inc83%Association to Benefit Children Hdfc83%Adirondack Community Action Programs Inc83%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

94% of spending goes to programs.

Program 94%Management 6%Fundraising 0%

Governance

18
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Action for a Better Community Foundation Inc · exempt
  • Village Housing Development Corporation · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC?
ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC (New York) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,196,464 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($1,176,767). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC have?
IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $4,196,464 in grants to ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC?
ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,176,767 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ACTION FOR A BETTER COMMUNITY INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 18 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing