Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521072250
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
4107522225
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,693,421
Expenses
$1,688,788
Assets
$13,813,030
Liabilities
$356,224

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

Leadership & pay

56 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YOUNG KARLO G (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • COLLINS TIFFANI S (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SCHMICK JOHN E (BOARD SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JESSICA SURIANO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSICA SURIANO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $169,158 total reported compensation
  • CRYSTAL LEE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $132,795 total reported compensation
  • JILL WOOD (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS): $112,095 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 baltimore educational scholarship trust, in partnership with our seventeen independent member schools, recruits and supports through the admissions process academically ambitious, african american students with financial need from the baltimore area. Once students are enrolled, b.e.s.t. Positions them for success through academic preparation, character and leadership development and support programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The three greatest accomplishments of the baltimore educational scholarship trust include our admissions support, our student / parent programs and our facilitation of private and public partnerships. In admissions, we provide individualized admissions and financial aid counseling to applicants and their parents. Our student and parent programs include academic enrichment, leadership development, parent networking and college-bound support. In addition, b.e.s.t. Builds partnerships and facilitates collaborations between private and public educational leaders throughout baltimore. The totality of our programmatic work supports applicant students and parents, enrolled students and parents and the educational community in baltimore.

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 51% for direct work, and 49% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st 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; 63rd 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: 0.3%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.18; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 50 of 50 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 56 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 20 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.