Browne Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232261841
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
7039603000
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,378,558
Expenses
$8,792,907
Assets
$9,865,437
Liabilities
$7,335,538

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Peggy Otey (President/Head of School)

Highest reported compensation

  • Peggy Otey (President/Head of School): $394,781 total reported compensation
  • Kenneth Marter (CFO/Treasurer): $170,482 total reported compensation
  • Mike Sasso (Director of Advancement & Institutional Growth): $131,308 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 Academy is a pre-kindergarten through grade eight independent school preparing girls and boys in the metropolitan Washington, DC area for competitive secondary schools. The Academy is a diverse independent day school committed to developing the whole child.

What it reported doing in 2024

An unwavering commitment to academic excellence forms the cornerstone of the Academys educational philosophy. The School achieves this commitment by fostering a passion for lifelong learning and by channeling this passion into a rigorous educational program. A comprehensive and challenging curriculum provides the essential foundation for each students (221 students) future academic success, physical growth and emotional development. This curriculum is designed to promote student excellence within and across each of the following disciplines: English (language arts and reading), mathematics, science, world languages, social studies and history, fine arts, technology, and physical education. The Academy offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities ranging from sports (soccer, basketball, and softball) to the fine arts (drama, art, and music lessons). Each trimester the Academy offers new extracurricular opportunities through the extended day program which offers services from 7:00 to 8:00 AM and 3:15 to 6:00 PM.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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.
  • 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th 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: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: -4.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $395K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $759K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • 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 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.