BBB Wise Giving Report for
Covenant House

BBB Wise Giving Report issued August 2011
BBB Wise Giving Report expires August 2013


This BBB Accredited charity meets all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability and is a Seal Holder. Find out more...


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Charity Contact Information

Name: Covenant House
Address: 5 Penn Plaza
  New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-727-4000
Web Address: www.covenanthouse.org
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BBB Wise Giving Alliance Comments

Year, State Incorporated: 1972, New York
Affiliates: None
Stated Purpose: "to provide shelter, food, clothing, counseling, medical attention, crisis intervention, public education and other services to runaway and homeless youths."

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Evaluation Conclusions

              

Covenant House (CH) meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.
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Programs

              

CH provides services to homeless, runaway, and abandoned youth and young mothers ages 16 to 24, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Street outreach offers food, clothing, blankets, hygiene supplies, transportation and referrals to homeless young people on the street. The Crisis Centers provide emergency shelter, food, clothing, legal aid, counseling, mental health and medical care including drug treatment and prevention services. Additional services including education and vocation services, parenting and childcare classes, and family reunification services are also available and can also be accessed by non-residents through the CH “drop-in” centers. CH’s “Rights of Passage” transitional living program helps young adults prepare for independent living by teaching life skills such as cooking, cleaning, budgeting, and time management and by providing education and employment support and counseling. CH operates a toll free crisis hotline called the Nineline (1-800-999-9999) in the United States. It is available from 2pm to midnight every day of the year for children and parents to receive immediate counseling and/or referrals to local service providers. The Nineline also provides on-line services including a carefully monitored forum. Covenant House operates a comparable hotline called Acercatel in Mexico. Under its Public Education program, CH staff provide runaway prevention services to school-age youth and publish pamphlets and booklets that provide advice to parents on how to relate to a child they believe may be thinking of running away.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, CH's program expenses were:

  
Shelter and crisis care 48,270,977
Rights of passage/In-school 16,344,006
Community service center 12,556,335
Mother/child 6,300,384
Public education 5,734,911
Medical 5,248,960
Outreach 4,593,937
Nineline 2,832,049
Total Program Expenses: $101,881,559
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Governance

              

Chief Executive : Kevin Ryan, President and CEO
Compensation*:
$277,983

Highest Paid Executive: James M. White,Secretary
Compensation*: $306,754

Chair of the Board: Priscilla Marconi
Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation:

Board Size: 30

Paid Staff Size: 1860

*July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.
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Fund Raising

              

Method(s) Used:

Direct mail, telemarketing, special events, grant proposals, Internet appeals, and planned giving.
Fund raising costs were 21% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $127,202,457, are donations received as a result of fund raising activities.)
CH incurred joint costs of $3,043,000 for informational materials and activities that included fund raising materials. Of those costs, $1,601,000 was allocated to program expenses and $1,442,000 was allocated to fund raising expenses.
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Tax Status

              

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.
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Financial

              

The following information is based on CH's audited financial statements (consolidated) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009.

Source of Funds  
Contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations 87,080,936
Government grants and contracts 28,669,510
Bequests 7,721,596
Net special events income 3,730,415
Contributed services and merchandise 2,532,792
Other income 2,447,714
Interest and dividends 797,964
Net realized and unrealized losses -11,273,483
Total Income $121,707,444


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Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

Programs: 72%  Fund Raising: 18%  Administrative: 10% 

Total income   $121,707,444
  Program expenses $101,881,559
  Fund raising expenses 26,386,985
  Administrative expenses 15,053,220
 
Total expenses   $143,321,764
Expenses in Excess of Income   (21,614,320)
Beginning net assets   212,493,671
Other Changes in Net Assets (8,869,004)
Ending net assets   182,010,347
Total liabilities   45,171,617
Total assets   $227,181,964

Note 1: Other changes in net assets in the above financial section includes a foreign currency exchange adjustment and a pension expense other than net periodic expense.


Note 2: For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, CH reported in-kind income of $2,532,792 for donated service ($1,469,019) and donated goods ($1,063,773).

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An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

This report is not to be used for fund raising or promotional purposes.

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