Cliff Valley School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581152870
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
6783021302
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,059,629
Expenses
$9,424,835
Assets
$18,535,005
Liabilities
$10,228,389

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Edwards (Head of School): $410,879 total reported compensation
  • Loretta Chapman (Director of Finance): $200,936 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 provide outstanding education, focused on children's academic and social development in a caring community environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

After school program - fun and learning continue after the day's last class. Starting in kindergarten a wide variety of after school programs are offered with the opportunity to develop skills beyond the classroom. Programs rotate throughout the year to keep interests fresh and to help students explore new areas of interest. Teachers are encouraged to develop and lead after-school activities, based on their interests and strengths, to create unique learning opportunities form students. Multi-age grouping enables students to get to know and make friends with students outside their grade level.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.
  • 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: 6.3%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.97; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.7% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $411K · 24 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $179K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.