Courage Schools Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853795659
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sandy Springs, GA, USA
Phone
4704472130
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,385,846
Expenses
$1,748,617
Assets
$3,041,413
Liabilities
$915,275

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR MARY E MCPHERSON (PRESIDENT & HEAD OF SCHOOL)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR MARY E MCPHERSON (PRESIDENT & HEAD OF SCHOOL): $185,406 total reported compensation
  • MICKY IRWIN (TREASURER, COO): $110,104 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Courage Schools services rising K through 7th grade students who have a diagnosed language difference such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.

What it reported doing in 2024

Courage schools services rising k through 7th grade students who have a diagnosed language difference such as dyslexia and dysgraphia. Courage schools is a remediation program for students with language based learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, expressive/receptive language disorder, etc. Courage's focus is to remediate students within a two to four year time frame so students are able to transition to a mainstream school. In addition, courage is a steam program as the learning profile of its students tends to also include steam based thinking as a strength.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 92% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.2%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 26.7%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.74; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 35.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.2% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $185K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.