Education Freedom Alabama

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
861722407
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2052067808
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,466,945
Expenses
$6,076,690
Assets
$7,453,085
Liabilities
$7,634

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREW RYAN (EXECUTIVE DI): $158,024 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To empower families to choose the school that best fits their child's unique educational needs. We provide scholarships to low-income, k-12 children who are not succeeding in their current environment. Scholarships are funded by the donation of corporate and individual Alabama income tax liability. Every Alabama child has an equal opportunity to a quality education, which can only occur when educators and local communities are empowered to create diverse learning options and all parents are empowered to match their children to the learning option that best meets their needs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Alabama opportunity scholarship fund (alosf) is a scholarship granting organization formed to implement the Alabama accountability act. Alosf awards scholarships to eligible low-income k5-12th grade students with priority given to students who are zoned to attend a failing public school. The scholarships pay for private school tuition or transfer fees to a non- failing public school. The first scholarships were granted for the semester starting january 2014. Alosf has awarded over 12,000 scholarships over 9.5 years representing 46 of the 67 counties in Alabama. The scholarships are funded by donations of income tax liability from individuals and corporations who receive an Alabama state income tax credit.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 95.6%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -75.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -28% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 95.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $158K · 4 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 87 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 89 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.