Groton School

Overview

Mission

Groton School's mission is to inspire lives of character, scholarship, leadership, and service within a diverse, inclusive, and close-knit community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education of 381 students in grades eight through twelve in a non-profit, co-educational college preparatory boarding school. The School provides aid assistance for 41% of its students in the form of tuition grants, housing support, travel assistance, and subsidies for books, supplies, and laptop purchases.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 80% of its reported program work directly.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104265
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
Groton, MA, USA
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education

Official website

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The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 47th 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: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 12.07; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 27 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $41.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 49 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links