Chesapeake Lighthouse Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830356333
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Laurel, MD, USA
Phone
3017762300
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$65,275,806
Expenses
$61,683,008
Assets
$131,565,365
Liabilities
$99,539,195

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR MUSA SUBASI (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • ZAYN AK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ZAYN AK (CEO): $240,064 total reported compensation
  • BEVERLY DONOVAN EDUCATION (STRATEGY & COMMUNICATIONS): $192,663 total reported compensation
  • ERKAN DERIN (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $191,886 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To attain educational excellence by providing a rigorous and technology-integrated education for k-12 students with an emphasis on mathematics, science, and information technologies.

What it reported doing in 2024

The primary purpose of the foundation is to operate one or more public charter schools or other choice schools in the state of Maryland in accordance with Maryland senate bill 75 of 2003.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.13; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $48.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $240K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.