Catholic Education Arizona
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 860937587
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ, United States
- Phone
- 602-962-8491
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $20,197,669
- Expenses
- $19,063,718
- Assets
- $38,494,965
- Liabilities
- $30,990,350
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- NANCY PADBERG (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- NANCY PADBERG (PRESIDENT & CEO): $234,574 total reported compensation
- DEBRA PREACH (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $145,074 total reported compensation
- CAITLIN HARRIS (VP, FINANCE & COMPLIANCE): $98,410 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We provide scholarships to underserved children to change lives, serve society, and transform culture. The mission of Catholic Education Arizona is to help underserved families in Arizona to provide a quality, Catholic education for their children. We provide scholarships to underserved children to change lives, serve society, and transform culture The mission of Catholic Education Arizona is to help underserved families in Arizona to provide a quality, Catholic education for their children. Through support of Arizona tax credits, every child has an equal opportunity to pursue a Catholic education that allows them to reach their highest potential. The Arizona education tax credit allows individuals and corporations to redirect a portion of their state taxes to provide life-changing scholarships for students in need. Our organization provides both individual and corporate Arizona...
What it reported doing in 2024
Catholic education Arizona primarily receives contributions under Arizona individual and corporate tax credit programs for private school tuition scholarships. Together, these tax credits allowed Arizona individual and corporate taxpayers to effectively direct their tax dollars to provide scholarships to 4,191 students. $5,000 was distributed to the matthew 19:14 project, $10,000 to st. John vianney catholic school, and $10,000 to our lady of the lake catholic school for non-tax credit scholarship assistance. $ 80,696 was also distributed through catholic education Arizona's employer matching and donation fund to multiple Arizona catholic institutions. (continued on schedule o)catholic education Arizona receives traditional donations for its changing lives division. In the third year, $634,285 was raised to fund future scholarships for catholic school students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 97% of its reported program spending out as grants.
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: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
- Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 35th 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; 66th 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: 5.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.81; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $235K · 17 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.