Alder GSE

Legal name: Alder Graduate School of Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474649648
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Redwood City, CA, US
Phone
(650) 362-3997
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,335,426
Expenses
$20,015,108
Assets
$57,759,288
Liabilities
$4,086,887

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HEATHER KIRKPATRICK (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER KIRKPATRICK (PRESIDENT & CEO): $416,760 total reported compensation
  • JULIANA FABROCINI (SR. DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS): $285,913 total reported compensation
  • ERIK BROWN (CFO): $257,634 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Alder Graduate School of Education partners with TK-12 public schools to create pipelines of great teachers through a residency program, training educators to meet the needs of their students and school communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Alder graduate school of education works to support education organizations in developing their teacher, principal and/ or leader pipelines; to serve as an educational organization providing support and services to students through course instruction at the post-secondary level towards postgraduate degrees, certifications and continuing education, in particular for teachers, principals, and leaders; to provide training and development for mentors; to provide educational forums, classes, workshops, trainings, resources, support, opportunities and other charitable activities to promote education and learning; and to provide job training, in particular for those in low-income and socially and economically disadvantaged communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.89; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 13 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 73.4% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $417K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $250K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.