Azalea Montessori Elementary Nature School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
921722263
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Norwood, OH, USA
Phone
9084686563
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Reported finances

Revenue
$507,304
Expenses
$474,806
Assets
$128,320
Liabilities
$130,574

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Josh Shanklin (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jason Waters (Co-founder): $72,598 total reported compensation
  • Josh Shanklin (Executive Director): $65,666 total reported compensation
  • Michelle Geter (Member): $58,614 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide high-quality elementary Montessori education to all children regardless of racial, ethnic or economic background.

What it reported doing in 2024

Five weeks of week day learning and outdoor experiences for 6-12 year olds.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 51
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • 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: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.4%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.02; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 41.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 57.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.9% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $395K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $73K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.