Design Thinking Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463003036
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
New Castle, DE, USA
Phone
3026601523
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,611,525
Expenses
$6,359,879
Assets
$4,291,311
Liabilities
$8,041,089

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • PAUL MILLER (CHAIRMAN)
  • MATT URBAN (BOARD MEMBER)
  • JOE LOPORTO (BOARD MEMBER)

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 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The school's mission is to empower all students to be tomorrows innovators and lifelong learners who question, imagine, create, and share every day.

What it reported doing in 2018

Design thinking academy, inc. Is a community-based tuition-free public charter high school whose mission is to educate every student, at any level of development, optimizing each one's opportunity to succeed in post-secondary college and careers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 68% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -13.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.87; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 45.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 61.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $782K reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2014 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.