Cupola Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
854383831
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Malvern, PA, USA
Phone
6102557188
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$583,265
Expenses
$642,007
Assets
$645,552
Liabilities
$569,880

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL HILBERT (CO-DIRECTOR): $87,248 total reported compensation
  • JULIA BERGSON-SHILCOCK (CO-DIRECTOR): $87,248 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 offer schooling and educational guidance to home-schooled youth and their families and making distributions for charitable purposes

What it reported doing in 2024

The academy offers full-day programs for young people ages 4-18 to attend 2 days a week in a collaborative and resource-rich environment. The academy nurtures the innate intellectual curiosity of young people in a pro-social atmosphere.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.5%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.88; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.5% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $510K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.