Drisha Institute for Jewish Education
Legal name: Drisha Institute for Jewish Education Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 132968932
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, United States
- Phone
- +1 212 595 0307
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,104,007
- Expenses
- $1,676,586
- Assets
- $2,280,333
- Liabilities
- $202,422
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALAN SEPTIMUS (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID SILBER (DEAN - OFFICER): $40,000 total reported compensation
- DEBRA COURTRIGHT (CFO): $32,050 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission. Drisha is a leading center for serious, high level, and honest study of classical Jewish text. A change agent in the field, Drisha has profoundly affected the lives of the many thousands of its students from across the United States, Israel, and beyond, many of whom have gone on to occupy significant leadership roles in the Jewish world. Our model of deep and honest learning, alongside our commitment to action, provides women and men of all demographics with the opportunity to encounter texts in an intellectually rigorous, spiritually meaningful and inclusive manner. Drisha is a place for people of all commitments and backgrounds to partner in the shared project of Torah, to lea.
What it reported doing in 2024
Drisha continued to provide access to jewish learning with its flagship dr beth samuels high school program, its middle school program, its immersive kollel programs in the us and israel, and its robust community education programs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 55
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 46.5%; rating input score 46
- Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $532.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 46%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -13.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 46.5% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 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: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.