Committee for Education Funding

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520891509
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2023278100
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$662,879
Expenses
$616,773
Assets
$950,719
Liabilities
$11,523

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Emily Crawford (President)
  • Jenny Smulson (Past President)
  • Steve Voytek (Vice President)
  • Sarah Abernathy (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Emily Crawford (President)
  • Jenny Smulson (Past President)
  • Steve Voytek (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

As the oldest and largest coalition of education associations in existence, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) provides a strong and unified voice in support of increasing the federal investment in education. Our mission is to provide our members, the public, the US Congress, the Executive Branch, and the media with information in support of federal investments in education. CEF takes positions on federal education funding issues that represent a consensus of its membership and then communicates those positions to federal government officials and Members of Congress

What it reported doing in 2024

CEF has three areas of focus:1 - Conducting of seminars, meetings, functions and forums in an effort to disseminate information and increase awareness about congressional action on educational funding.2 - Coordination of membership efforts toward obtaining adequate federal financial support for all levels of educational funding.3 - Publications through which the Committee provides its members and other interested parties with information on all aspects of budget and appropriation of congressional action on education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.9%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.9% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $512K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 20 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $417K reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.