Wheelock College

Overview

Mission

Wheelock's mission is to improve the lives of children and families. As a private college with a public mission, Wheelock College strives to be the premier college that educates people to create a safe, caring, and just world for all children and families. Wheelock College cultivates a passion for learning among all members of its community. We are a diverse learning community whose members respect differences among people, their ideas, and their ways of acting in the world.

What it reported doing in 2016

Social Science and Related Studies: Instructional programs for undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of education, social work and child life. Programs include classroom instruction as well as practical experience at school and social service agencies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 86% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 72% for direct work, and 28% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042103639
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Headquarters
Boston, MA, USA
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Universities

Official website

Request a diligence report

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 2.53; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.5% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $44.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $395K · 42 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 50 of 51 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 annual filings from 2009 to 2016
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links