Buckeye Friends School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842318320
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Effingham, IL, USA
Phone
2173439142
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$209,239
Expenses
$258,471
Assets
$3,031
Liabilities
$81,173

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kristie Campbell (President)
  • Peter Kalajan (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brian Weck (Director): $56,308 total reported compensation
  • Carrie Huff (Secretary): $1,923 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Buckeyes are innovative thinkers, Makers and Doers. We are not afraid to make mistakes or to try something new. For us, success is in the doing, mistakes are simply road signs we use to find another way. At Buckeye, we understand that comfort is the antithesis of durable learning and that learning a new skill takes hard work and practice. Trophies are not given to us, we earn them.

What it reported doing in 2022

We have a self-directed-project-based-experimental learning program that was highly successful in 2021/2022/2023. Students and their extended families benefited from the autonomy that Buckeye creates. This hands on type of learning allows the students to grasp ideas quickly and learn more about working together and the projects. This year, the students planned, measured, cut and built a rocketship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.9%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.01; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 26.78; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $251K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.