Alliance for Curriculum Enhancement
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 384019603
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Billings, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4066724342
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $641,736
- Expenses
- $604,408
- Assets
- $374,459
- Liabilities
- $8,255
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JENNY COMBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JENNY COMBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $94,020 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The a.c.e. Consortium, in cooperation with participating schools, develops and implements meaningful curriculum and related assessments that meet the academic needs of students and state and national requirements for academic achievements.
What it reported doing in 2024
Montana statewide mentor program provides the opportunity for new teachers to receive mentoring from exemplary retired teachers, meeting the challenge to encourage and retain those early career teachers during their first few years in the profession, the years that present the most difficult demands. Nationwide, research shows that mentored teachers not only stay in the profession longer than other teachers, but they also tend to achieve greater professional efficacy throughout their careers, with greater gains in student achievements. Overall, teachers who receive mentoring using the methodology of this program have a higher retention rate than teachers who receive no mentoring or less rigorous models.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.5%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 99.3%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 93.5% of revenue deployed · 99.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $600K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.