A Childs Garden Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311772758
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5134510330
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$467,792
Expenses
$488,773
Assets
$10,918
Liabilities
$37,209

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARTHA SMITH (PRESIDENT)
  • JASON BOVARD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARTHA SMITH (PRESIDENT)
  • JASON BOVARD (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ASHLEY BOVARD (TREASURER): $68,571 total reported compensation
  • ASHLEY BOVARD (TREASURER): $68,571 total reported compensation
  • MARTHA SMITH (PRESIDENT): $24,571 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide an early learning education for children 30 months thru 5 yrs in a part time developmentally appropriate setting aligning all aspects of the Ohio elds curriculum

What it reported doing in 2025

Instructors help provide quality elds education for their students

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 5
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.41; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 38.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.9% of revenue deployed · 91.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $449K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $69K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 8 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.