Dunn School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951909237
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Olivos, CA, USA
Phone
8056886471
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,668,590
Expenses
$17,279,892
Assets
$26,942,795
Liabilities
$10,308,497

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Kalyan Balaven (Head of School-Present): $392,218 total reported compensation
  • Simon Sweeney (Associate Head of School): $196,250 total reported compensation
  • Amy Grenier (CFO/COO): $157,803 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the dunn school community is to educate the whole student to their fullest potential in preparation for a life of learning and leadership in society. The school accomplishes this mission by operating a 6-12th grade boarding and day school, which prepares students for a rigorous college curriculum.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dunn Schools summer programs include day camps for 3rd through 8th graders, residential camps for 8th through 11th graders, and aquatics lessons for young children and families. Summer at Dunn programs offer fun and enriching opportunities to learn, explore, and strengthen academics. Dunn also rents out its facilities during summer to mission-aligned organizations offering camps and athletic programs to children and young adults.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 2.2%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83% of revenue deployed · 85.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $14.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $392K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.