Echo Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 562054137
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Charlotte, NC, USA
- Phone
- 7044911467
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $442,460
- Expenses
- $537,857
- Assets
- $274,044
- Liabilities
- $2,255
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Stacey Schanzlin (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Stephanie G Ansaldo (Director): $243,414 total reported compensation
- Stacey Schanzlin (President): $50,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Act as an educational and charitable organization as it relates to sponsoring and facilitating those voices that speak of human consciousness and dignity, justice and moral courage in a way that will lead to a positive action for humankind.
What it reported doing in 2024
Act as an educational and charitable organization as it relates to sponsoring and facilitating those voices that speak of human consciousness and dignity, justice and moral courage in a way that will lead to a positive action for humankind. In furtherance of its mission over the past 29 years, the organization has engaged more than 750,000 students and teachers across 195 schools, providing educational programs that promote critical thinking, ethical leadership, and civic responsibility. It has mentored 101 Student Ambassadors, delivered 29 award? winning, student? created curricula used nationally and internationally, and facilitated engagement between 42 world leaders, including 15 Nobel Laureates, and local students to foster dialogue on human rights, moral responsibility, and global citizenship.
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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 80
- Sustainability: 19
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 22nd 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: Pass
- 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: -21.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 54.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -20.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -27.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $429K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $243K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.