Early Care and Learning Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260768278
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6145310433
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$573,137
Expenses
$617,854
Assets
$34,300
Liabilities
$469

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mary Lou Langenhop (Co-President)
  • Linda Neugebauer (Co-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Lou Langenhop (Co-President): $2,260 total reported compensation
  • Linda Neugebauer (Co-President): $933 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 primary purpose of ECAL Inc. is to strengthen the quality of early learning programs for young children that increase their social, emotional and academic readiness for future learning. ECAL Inc. established Caring Communities: Birth to 3 in 2008 to transform program philosophy and practice in early education settings for infants and toddlers. The program has successfully implemented the model in 49 classrooms in Central Ohio and 1 in Cincinnati. CC: B-3 has assisted in improving the overall center quality, with several centers receiving increased quality ratings from Ohio's Step Up to Quality rating system. CC: B-3 impacted the quality of care for 400 infants and toddlers during this reporting year. Centers who make the commitment to transform their programs from single age classrooms to classroom communities of infants and toddlers together maintain that model despite funding challenges because they understand the added value of a mixed-age setting with consistent caregivers.

What it reported doing in 2024

ECAL Inc believes in investing in the ongoing support of classroom staff and center leadership in the implementation of the high-quality CC: B-3 program. As a result, ECAL Inc offers 30 training courses that are Ohio Approved for professional development. It also offers coaching services for teachers and center directors for program improvement. This program year, ECAL Inc developed a detailed classroom observation tool, which was field tested in over 30 classrooms implementing the CC: B-3 model. This required a 3-hour observation in each classroom followed by a detailed report of the status of the implementation of all key elements of the CC: B-3 model and specific suggestions for improved implementation. These reports were then used by the center leadership and the coaches to develop specific continuous improvements plans for each classroom as needed. ECAL Inc implemented a Brigance assessment system, assessing 300 children in this reporting year. This information is provided to classroom staff and center leadership to provide individualized training plans for children based on their developmental status. Both systems are used by ECAL leadership to develop targeted trainings and coaching approaches to address development delay trends seen in the child assessments and trends in key element implementation. ECAL Inc also believes in peer support in ensuring high-quality center operation. To that end, CC: B-3 Directors meet monthly to discuss local and state public policy issues affecting early education centers and share best practices in all areas of operations and program implementation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $938.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.8%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $606K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.