Chesterton Academy of Saint Margaret Clitherow

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
882087338
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8652476838
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$391,881
Expenses
$443,930
Assets
$178,931
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • William Z Summers (Headmaster): $70,000 total reported compensation
  • Jared Kimutis (Assistant Headmaster): $69,154 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 form joyful disciples through an outstanding, integrated education centered on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, with GK Chesterton as a model of lay spirituality.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Chesterton Academy of Saint Margaret Clitherow (CAMC) moved operations to a new building, which allows for future growth to at least 50 students. This expansion took CAMC from essentially a one room school house to a building with 3 classrooms, a library, reception and office space, and multi-use room for holding mass, hosting lectures, dance classes, and drama productions, as well a plenty of outdoor green space for student activities like wiffleball, outdoor lunch, and chalk arts festival. Renovations were involved to make the space functional and up to code for a school and about $12,500 materials and $37,500 labor were donated to make the efforts affordable for our young school. This growth has attracted strong students, scoring in the top 1% of the country in the CLT.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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

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: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 59.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.6% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $390K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.