American Christian Academy
Legal name: American Christian Ed Assoc Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 581962130
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
- Phone
- (205) 553-5963
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $10,419,105
- Expenses
- $10,426,110
- Assets
- $9,603,855
- Liabilities
- $4,602,760
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
People named in this filing
- Todd Hamner (Board)
- Justin Williams (Board)
- Traci Taft (Board)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
American Christian Academy exists as a partnership with parents to instill Christian character and academic excellence for all students. My name is Tara Blake, and I am thrilled to be teaching 4th grade at ACA again this year. I grew up in Jackson, MS, and made the decision to follow Christ at the age of 13. In 2007, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Family Studies from Mississippi University for Women. My career began in ministry and social work, where I served as a Children’s Case Manager, Family Support Specialist, and School Program Coordinator for several years. I then pursued my passion for education by completing a Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education (K–8). I feel truly blessed that the Lord opened the door for me to teach at ACA and that my own children are able to attend this wonderful school as well.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Association has over 1000 students enrolled from Preschool to 12th grade. One goal of the school is to prepare students for college and a career. The Association is seeing success of the program through numerous academic and athletic scholarships awarded to graduating seniors
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 92% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- 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: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.92; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 90.9% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 56/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.