Cornerstone Community School Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 874206679
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Lawrence, KS, USA
- Phone
- 7858131820
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $432,581
- Expenses
- $438,390
- Assets
- $20,809
- Liabilities
- $18,264
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Madeline Herrera (Director): $33,327 total reported compensation
- Bailey Pike (Director): $4,270 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We are reimagining elementary education to cultivate equity and inspire the next generation of innovators through project-based learning. By creating hands-on projcets to solve tangible, community-focused problems, the students will discover their passion for working as a team while achieving mastery in multiple disciplines.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our largest program service is our core elementary school curriculum, which focuses on project-based learning. During the tax year, 60 students participated in this program. Key accomplishments included students creating an art exhibit to display their artwork inspired by and to bring awareness to our local wetlands, speaking out at local commission meetings, and welcoming the first tenant to affordable housing designed by our students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 77% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 65
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Limited
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.3%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.88; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 44.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 37.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $364K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $33K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.