Cognia Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208613765
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alpharetta, GA, USA
Phone
6783922285
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$140,431,798
Expenses
$126,170,977
Assets
$105,922,494
Liabilities
$52,790,605

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr Mark A Elgart (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr Mark A Elgart (President/CEO): $1,302,785 total reported compensation
  • Kenneth I Bergman (Chief Legal Officer): $479,930 total reported compensation
  • Angela Hilliard (Chief Marketing Officer): $330,736 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cognia, inc is dedicated to leading and empowering the education community to ensure that all learners realize their full potential while creating a world of opportunities for every learner. We drive excellence in education through continuous improvement services, assessment, accreditation, research, innovation policy and technology.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cognia, Inc. develops and applies research-based accreditation and school improvement standards, processes, procedures, expertise, and tools that cross state, regional, and international boundaries to effect continuous school improvement through ongoing external checks, support, and feedback. It currently serves as a trusted partner to nearly 36,000 schools and school systems-employing more than five million educators and enrolling over 20 million students-across the United States and 84 other countries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 42
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 85
  • 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: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • 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: 10.2%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.8% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $106.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 38 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 37 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.