Beyond Differences
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271772372
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Rafael, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4152569095
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $945,830
- Expenses
- $586,402
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Linsey Morrison (Vice President)
- Laura Talmus (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Alex Heckler (Director)
- Rahul Chandhok (Director)
- Ed Lehrman (Treasurer)
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
Our mission is to "Inspire students at all middle schools nationwide to end social isolation and create a culture of belonging for everyone."
What it reported doing in 2024
Beyond Differences was founded by Laura Talmus and Ace Smith to honor the life and memory of their daughter Lili Rachel Smith (19942009). Since 2010, Lili has been the inspiration and guiding light for the organizations accomplishments and growth. Her life sparked a national movement that has now touched the lives of millions of children.Beyond Differences is the nations leading expert on social isolation among middle school youth and our mission is the driving force behind our student-led social justice movement. Since its founding in 2010, more than 10,000 schools across the country have used Beyond Differences programs, impacting more than 4.5 million students in all 50 states.Our three areas of work include our social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum for our three Positive Prevention Initiatives (No One Eats Alone, Know Your Classmates, and Be Kind Online), professional development for educators, and our national teen board (youth leadership). The Beyond Differences model is predicated on the notion that students influencing other students is not only an effective means of changing school culture, but also a natural and profoundly life-changing opportunity for youth to take control of this issue that causes so many children to feel so helpless. Our national high school teen board models that connection and belonging have a powerful ripple effect and inspire middle school youth to believe in it, too.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 39
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 29.7%; rating input score 30
- Program expense ratio: 47.7%; rating input score 48
- Fundraising efficiency: $21.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 29.7% of revenue deployed · 47.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $280K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 21 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $253K reported
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.