Capstone Classical Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
863946901
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Fargo, ND, USA
Phone
7012056381
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,669,344
Expenses
$5,456,187
Assets
$76,445,340
Liabilities
$24,724,268

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ronald Robson (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Paul Fisher (Headmaster): $145,238 total reported compensation
  • Charlie Cobb (Director of Finance): $34,525 total reported compensation
  • Carrie Ehrmantruat (Director of Finance): $31,437 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Capstone Classical Academy engages students to acquire wisdom, cultivate virtue, and pursue rigorous academic study with a Christian worldview. Our students will study what is Good, what is True, and what is Beautiful for the purposes of Glorifying God and benefiting their community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Capstone Classical Academy (Academy) enrolled 232 students in its academic programs.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 61
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.1%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 9th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.01; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 55.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 54.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.1% of revenue deployed · 59.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $145K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 32 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule M noncash within contributions did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.