Educare Arizona

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261778287
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6028454150
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Day Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$237,536
Expenses
$358,403
Assets
$7,223,713
Liabilities
$98,752

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GINGER WARD (DIRECTOR/SWHD CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • GINGER WARD (DIRECTOR/SWHD CEO): $260,151 total reported compensation
  • JEANETTE RAMOS (SWHD CFO): $199,256 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educare Arizona's mission is to ensure vulnerable young children and their families are successful in school and life by providing high quality early learning, family support, and health care while also working to improve early childhood practice and policy.

What it reported doing in 2024

The educare program implements the latest science, research, and evidenced-based practices to ensure that low-income infants, toddlers, and pre-school children who are most at risk for academic failure build the skills they need to arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, eager to learn, and ready for school. Educare teachers emphasize the equal importance of developing children's pre-literacy and early math skills alongside their social-emotional skills. We involve families in their children's development. Activities and interactions aim to strengthen parents' ability to serve as champions for their child's learning after they leave educare and enter primary and secondary schools. A unique component of the educare model is practicing "continuity of care," meaning each child stays with the same team of teachers from birth to age three. Children then move into a preschool classroom for students three to five years of age with a different team of teachers who stay with them until they're ready to enter kindergarten. This continuity creates close bonds among children, teachers, and parents, reinforcing the stable relationships essential to learning. We keep class sizes small and teacher-child ratios low to ensure individualized care and instruction for every child who attends our school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.16; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.8% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -14.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $310K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $260K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.