The Ablegamers Foundation Inc.
Science and Technology Research Institutes, Services N.E.C. | EIN: 30-0533750 | Harpers Ferry WV
Mission: THE ABLEGAMERS FOUNDATION ENABLES PLAY TO COMBAT SOCIAL ISOLATION THAT IS AN EPIDEMIC AMONG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 2009, and donations are tax-deductible.
Is this your nonprofit? Access the Nonprofit Portal to submit data and download your rating toolkit.
Encompass Rating System by Charity Navigator
Overall Score
97
out of 100
This charity's score is a passing score. This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 85% Finance & Accountability, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, and 5% Culture & Community
Learn about the Encompass Rating System: Overview | FAQ | Release Notes
Finance & Accountability
This score provides an assessment of a nonprofit's financial health (stability, efficiency and sustainability) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
Finance & Accountability Score
97
out of 100
The score earned by The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. is a passing score
This V4 of the Finance & Accountability Score provides a baseline measure of an organization’s health including the indicators listed in the report below.
This score represents Form 990 data from 2020, the latest year published by the IRS.
Finance & Accountability Report
97
of 100 points
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Program Expense Ratio
77.18%
Higher effect on score
More data
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense percentage AND Liabilities to Assets |
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Composition
5/5 Independent
Higher effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review
Has Audit/Review
Higher effect on score
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $250,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $250,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
1.32%
Lower effect on score
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Website
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes
Documented
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction
Missing
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Additional Information
Unscored
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Total Revenue and Expenses
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts include salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
MARK BARLET, PRESIDENT
$129,392
CHRISTOPHER POWER, VICE PRESIDENT
$0
STEVE SPOHN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
$0
CHERYL MITCHEL, DIRECTOR
$0
LARRY GOLDBERG, DIRECTOR
$0
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
Business Master File Data
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Pandemic Response
Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Grants Sent
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
The issues around COVID aligned with our mission, and we saw an increase in funding.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
All in-person activities were stopped and we had to pivot quickly to continue to deliver. This slowed down our capacity in a way that negatively impacted parts of our mission. Other parts were bolstered by the move to remote and were able to fill some of the gaps in delivery.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
AbleGamers has always had a mixed onsite and remote staff, so the change to all remote work meant leaning into the infrastructure we already had in place.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We have made changes to our remote policy to allow for flexibility and we have also reevaluated our travel policy post COVID.
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
Not Currently Scored
The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. cannot currently be evaluated by our Encompass Rating Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Do you work at The Ablegamers Foundation Inc.? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Additional Information
Unscored
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Largest Programs
The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. reported its three largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
$163,207
Spent in most recent FY
27%
Percent of program expenses
PEER COUNSELING: WHILE COVID MADE INTERACTING WITH THE COMMUNITY MORE CHALLENGING IN 2020, ABLEGAMERS TEAM OF TRAINED ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS CONTINUED OUR MISSION BY PERFORMING VIRTUAL ONE ... (More)
$131,209
Spent in most recent FY
21%
Percent of program expenses
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ABLEGAMERS FULLY LAUNCHED THE ACCESSIBLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE (APX) PRACTITIONER CLASS AND IN 2020 WE TRAINED 120 DEVELOPERS FROM LARGE, TRIPLE-A STUDIOS TO SMALL DEVELOPERS AND ... (More)
$142,938
Spent in most recent FY
23%
Percent of program expenses
USER RESEARCH (UR): UR HAS STOOD UP AND EXPANDED OUT PLAYER PANEL, A GROUP OF OVER 400 PLAYERS WITH DISABILITIES. BY PROVIDING ABLEGAMERS WITH UNIQUE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION, THESE PLAYERS ALLOWED THE ... (More)
Leadership & Adaptability
This score provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. is a passing score.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
The AbleGamers Foundation's mission is to enable PLAY, in order to COMBAT SOCIAL ISOLATION, foster inclusive communities to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
A world where all people can find places to play, regardless of there disability, and that play leads to a more fulfilling life.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Reevaluate older programs to make sure they align with future goals, remove legacy processes that are not supporting the mission.
Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.
Goal Two: Grow the staff to increase our capacity to complete the mission.
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Goal Three: We have evaluated feedback from those we support and are looking to change how some support is delivered to speed up the support process, and build capacity.
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
AbleGamers has invested in education in agile processes and implementing those across all our programs, allowing us to all take ownership in how we execute our mission and create transparency in our teams. To date, we have sent 80% of the staff to training.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Thought Leadership
Community Building
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
We have always been seen as thought leaders in our mission. We present that knowledge at conferences, we mentor smaller organizations to help them build capacity, and we partner with universities to leverage their skills to bring more to our mission.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
COVID-19 shut down a major source of funding the organization had just launched. The training program was designed to be done in person. At the start of the pandemic, we had all hands on deck, and in 30 days we had completely retooled the program to be done remotely. We went on to train nearly 200 people, and move the mission forward in a major way.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's engagement with the constituents it serves, a practice we term Constituent Feedback. When organizations listen to constituents, they are able to better deliver on programs and meet the needs of stakeholders. A future version of this Beacon will also assess an organization's people operations and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) metrics.
Culture & Community Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by The Ablegamers Foundation Inc. is a passing score.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of an organization's Culture and Community by measuring its Constituent Feedback practices (see report below). Constituent Feedback data provides 100% of the basis for the initial evaluation of the Culture & Community Beacon.
Culture & Community Report
100
of 100 points
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Constituent Feedback
Full Credit
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback.
Here's how this organization is listening and learning from the people they serve:
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Note: The organization did not respond to this question.
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
Note: The organization did not respond to this question.
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
Note: The organization did not respond to this question.
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Note: The organization did not respond to this question.
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
Based on feedback, we changed the peer counseling to expose more solutions so that players with disabilities can self-help, this has allowed us to serve more people with the same resources.
Methodology
Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective. We've partnered with GuideStar by Candid to survey organizations about their feedback practices. Nonprofit organizations can fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile to receive a rating.
Charity Navigator awards full credit for this Beacon to every nonprofit that is eligible for an Encompass Rating that completes the survey, in recognition of their willingness to publicly share this information with the nonprofit and philanthropic communities. This data is not evaluated for quality at this time. Validation will be added in future iterations of this Beacon.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Our partnership with Feedback Labs and Guidestar by Candid, and other partners including Fund for Shared Insight, GlobalGiving, and Keystone Accountability, enables us to launch the first version of this beacon with Constituent Feedback information collected on Candid's site.
Feedback practices have been shown to support better Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outcomes, an essential area of assessment that we intend to further expand and develop in the future. Feedback Labs has documented several studies which indicate that beyond achieving organizational goals, nonprofits that are attentive and responsive to concerns and ideas raised by beneficiaries establish stronger relationships with the people they serve, promote greater equity, and empower constituents in ways that can help to ensure better long-term outcomes. You can find resources to help nonprofits improve their feedback practices here.
