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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

Community Action Inc

Community Action Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,502,193 to it, the largest being ESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($1,001,137). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$24M
Funders on record
34
Grants received
$3.5M
Net assets
$6.8M
18/34 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 4%
01What it does

What Community Action Inc does

Mission

Community Action, Inc. empowers individuals, families and communities to overcome poverty through education, training, advocacy, prevention and services to meet basic human needs. We offer hope and assistance with respect and understanding.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Family, Child care, education, health and nutrition services. Head Start, Early Head Start and Family Day Care system. Head Start provided comprehensive services to over 240 children. Family day care providing family day care to over 160 children.

    $9,591,921 spentof which $10,910,595 as grants
    44% of program spending
  2. Energy and Weatherizaiton for low income families and individuals. Asistance in energy needs to over 4,000 households.

    $7,915,784 spentof which $8,429,087 as grants
    36% of program spending
  3. Community services and Advocacy, Housing Assistance serivces. Woman , Infants and Children services. Assistance to over 3,900 households

    $3,996,720 spentof which $4,277,638 as grants$3,245 earned by the program
    18% of program spending
  4. Program Service Expenses 466,755, Grants and allocations 511,355, Revenue 0 Education and training programs. ESOL, ABE programs. Assistance to 125 individuals

    $466,755 spentof which $511,355 as grants
    2% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $21,971,180.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 = 20202020 Revenue 100 ($15M) Expenses 100 ($15M) Net assets 100 ($3.6M)2021 Revenue 130 ($20M) Expenses 120 ($18M) Net assets 150 ($5.4M)2022 Revenue 130 ($20M) Expenses 123 ($19M) Net assets 157 ($5.6M)2023 Revenue 140 ($21M) Expenses 140 ($21M) Net assets 166 ($6.0M)2024 Revenue 160 ($24M) Expenses 155 ($24M) Net assets 190 ($6.8M)
20202021202220232024
Revenue (160)Expenses (155)Net assets (190)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 2020 to 2021, from $6.1M to $9.0M (+46%).

$6.1M
$9.0M
$9.5M
$9.8M
$11M
20202021202220232024
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.

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2020 89% · 2021 92% · 2022 89% · 2023 87% · 2024 79%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

100% of Community Action Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (60% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 698 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.

$151k
’20
$1.8M
’21
$1.3M
’22
$316k
’23
$894k
’24
2.0
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.

Board chair

Lucinda Nolet

Chairperson

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

20202021202220232024
Listed2120191917
Joined·+2+3+1+3
No longer listed·3415
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $160k → $486k.

4 of 34 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 Community Action Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 34 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

Community Action Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% 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

63% 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 Community Action Inc.

29%
largest funder
67%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 33% · 2019 38% · 2020 59% · 2021 51% · 2022 24% · 2023 36% — 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

53% of Community Action Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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

87% of Community Action Inc's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.

NH
IL
WI
NY
MA
PA
TN
TX
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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

Community Action Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 659 community improvement nonprofits its size.

Operating margin4% · above the median
Months of reserve2.0mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)12% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 659 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Government funding Community Action Inc receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $102.5M on record — $50.5M federal, $52.0M state.

Federal$50.5M
grants $50.5Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services$50.5M
State$52.0M
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Top programs
  • (MM) PURCHASED CLIENT/PROGRAM SVCS$25.4M
  • (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$23.1M
  • (RR) BENEFIT PROGRAMS$3.4M
  • (JJ) OPERATIONAL SERVICES$44k

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 Community Action 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 Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

93% of spending goes to programs.

Program 93%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

100%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Community Action 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.

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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 Community Action Inc?
Community Action Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,502,193 to it, the largest being ESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($1,001,137). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Community Action Inc have?
IRS filings report 34 organizations giving $3,502,193 in grants to Community Action Inc, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Community Action Inc?
ESSEX COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,001,137 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Community Action Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Community Action →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 34 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing