Cincinnati Waldorf School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
310846773
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5135410220
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,158,851
Expenses
$4,658,240
Assets
$3,926,399
Liabilities
$1,888,775

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeff Brandt (President - Exit 06/25)
  • Joshua Dorsey (President)
  • Nick Hummel (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Connie Davis (Faculty Chair): $60,473 total reported compensation
  • Susan Gray (Admin Director - End 02/25): $53,905 total reported compensation
  • Sarah Kimball (Faculty Rep): $48,631 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Cincinnati Waldorf School educates the unfolding capacities of children by engaging the creative imagination of the mind, the spirit of the heart, and the skillful use of the hands. The community actively participates in creating an environment that supports raising children who become self-reliant, creative, and responsible adults.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided classical education to 278 students from infancy to grade twelve. The CWS Early Childhood programs built a strong foundation for later intellectual growth through our nursery, kindergartens and parent and tots/nature tots programs. The grade school programs provided a classical academic education utilizing an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to learning. The high school program educated students based on the knowledge that learning is not only an intellectual exercise but a process that engages a child's empathy and initiative. CWS offered many lectures and other learning opportunities for community members and the public regarding Waldorf Education throughout the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% for 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.7%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.7% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.