Ohdela

Legal name: Alternative Education Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341968429
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbus, OH, United States
Phone
866.509.3099
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$53,050,002
Expenses
$55,081,074
Assets
$19,067,482
Liabilities
$35,226,995

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Hunt Sears (Board Vice President)
  • Eric Fanhauser (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Felicia Sanchez (Board Member): $1,000 total reported compensation
  • Michael Temple (Board Treasurer): $1,000 total reported compensation
  • Hunt Sears (Board Vice President): $875 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to offer students a rigorous education experience that blends innovative instruction delivered by highly qualified teachers and standards-aligned curriculum delivered in an online setting enhanced by real-world experiences and project-based learning opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided educational services to over 5,500 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.8%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.85; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $53.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $49M reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.