Earth School Hawaii

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814573225
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Princeville, HI, USA
Phone
9379748401
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,588,811
Expenses
$413,163
Assets
$4,135,962
Liabilities
$10,440

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christina Zimmerman (President)
  • Sara Goodwin (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christina Zimmerman (President): $120,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide a nature-based K8 school on Kauai blending academics, creativity, and land-based learning

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided a nature-based K8 school on Kauai blending academics, creativity, and land-based learning

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 10
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13.5%; rating input score 14
  • Program expense ratio: 99.2%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,051.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 88.5%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.01; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.2% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 45.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13.5% of revenue deployed · 99.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $410K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 14/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.