Brookline Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042732712
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brookline, MA, USA
Phone
6172323846
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$519,545
Expenses
$475,310
Assets
$3,122,894
Liabilities
$4,675

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER ROTHSTEIN (PRESIDENT)
  • LAUREN ARNOLD (VICE PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS)
  • BETH GILLIGAN (VICE PRESIDENT FUNDRAISING)
  • ELIZABETH ASCOLI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KIM BARNUM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KIM BARNUM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $63,000 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH ASCOLI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $3,281 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 brookline education foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving brookline's commitment to excellence in public education. The foundation raises private funds to support innovative teaching, administrative leadership, professional development and community participation in schools. Supporters and donors include parents, citizens, and businesses who share the belief that strong public schools are essential to the quality of life and future well-being of the town. The foundation works closely with the brookline school department to identify needs and opportunties in an effort to make a difference to students and teachers.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation is dedicated to preserving brookline's commitment to excellence in public education. Foundation funds are used to support professional development activities for teachers and administrators to support system wide initiatives that support the system as a whole.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 69% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.1%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 72.5%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.57; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.1% of revenue deployed · 72.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 31 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $344K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 33 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.