A Step Beyond

Overview

Mission

To prepare underserved youth for success in college, career, and life through dance education, academic support, and family services.

What it reported doing in 2023

Dance training is at the core of the program. Research has shown that learning dance imparts an array of life skills: self-awareness, concentration, discipline, respect, goal setting with accountability, and creative problem solving, to name a few. A Step Beyond (ASB) has a total of 233 students in grades 3-12, and will take an additional 45 students each year until it reaches a site capacity of approximately 350 students. Dance training is conducted by highly skilled professional on-staff dance instructors. Each year students perform in a concert attended by parents and supporters. They also perform in numerous other venues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462857532
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Headquarters
Escondido, CA, USA
Phone
8587222067
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Dance

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.51; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.3% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 annual filings from 2014 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • James Wright (CEO/Executive Director): $163,102 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Oliver (Artistic Director/Director): $99,669 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2023.