Career Accelerator Fund Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842524363
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
8559251150
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$762,211
Expenses
$129,506
Assets
$989,000
Liabilities
$18,326

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT A JONES (BOARD CHAIR): $355,562 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The career accelerator fund corporation (cafc) is an Indiana-based, nonprofit organization that seeks to provide financial access to education for students from all walks of life. The modern workforce needs more diverse and inclusive employees, requiring a modern funding mechanism. The cafc is a funding clearinghouse for student tuition and is open to partnering with education entities that are interested in leveraging pisa funds (progressive income share agreement) in a way that benefits students, employers, and states.

What it reported doing in 2020

The career accelerator fund corporation (cafc) is an Indiana-based, nonprofit organization that seeks to provide financial access to education for students from all walks of life. The modern workforce needs more diverse and inclusive employees, requiring a modern funding mechanism. The cafc is a funding clearinghouse for student tuition and is open to partnering with education entities that are interested in leveraging pisa funds (progressive income share agreement) in a way that benefits students, employers, and states. Pisa is a no-interest financial payment plan for students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 55
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16.3%; rating input score 16
  • Program expense ratio: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 13th 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: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 83%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.64; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 53.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 60.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 98.1% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16.3% of revenue deployed · 96.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $125K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $356K · 3 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2019 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 16/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.