Challenger School
Legal name: Challenger School Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 471405971
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Sandy, UT, USA
- Phone
- 8015692700
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $209,931,404
- Expenses
- $148,923,765
- Assets
- $806,488,287
- Liabilities
- $140,607,862
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HUGH GOURGEON (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- HUGH GOURGEON (PRESIDENT): $457,570 total reported compensation
- TATIANA HARPER (DIR SCHOOL O): $437,721 total reported compensation
- MATTHEW COOPER (VP & SECRETA): $416,952 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to prepare children to become self-reliant, productive individuals; to teach them to think, speak, and write with clarity, precision, and independence; to lead them to recognize and value their individuality and unalienable rights; and to inspire them to embrace challenge and find joy and self-worth through achievement.
What it reported doing in 2024
Challenger is committed to providing its students with a superior education. The organization currently has 27 schools throughout California, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Texas. Each location provides an excellent learning environment which includes daily meals and snacks. Many challenger locations offer an enrichment program for students who need to stay before or after regular school hours. This program offers various extracurricular classes such as soccer and other outdoor activities, music, dance, specialized art, chess, robotics, and foreign language.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 50
- Sustainability: 82
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 58.6%; rating input score 59
- Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 14.3%; rating input score 14; 9th 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: 29.1%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.42; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 58.6% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 1 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $129.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $458K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.2M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 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: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.