Efshar Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
334064907
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3037268994
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$753,786
Expenses
$409,673
Assets
$373,510
Liabilities
$29,397

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHAYNA FRIEDMAN (PRESIDENT, TREASURER, SECRETARY)
  • KELLI PFAFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KELLI PFAFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $8,462 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The efshar project strengthens colorados jewish early childhood community by enhancing quality and fostering an accessible, interconnected network of programs and providers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Workforce development & professional learning: the efshar project (efshar) strengthens the early childhood workforce, with a specific mission to focus on the unique needs of educators working in jewish programs, through high-quality professional learning, coaching, leadership development, and ongoing collaboration. Efshar is a hebrew word that means possible. Activities include individualized and group coaching, professional development, communities of practice, an annual conference, the teacher leader fellowship, reflective consultation, and specialized training such as state level credentialed programs like eqit and pyramid plus. Efshar currently supports approximately 260 educators and leaders and invests in workforce recruitment, retention, career pathways, educator leadership and workplace quality. In 2025-26, average educator turnover across participating programs was approximately 5%, reflecting strong workforce stability across the network.

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 88% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.7%; rating input score 33
  • Program expense ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 86.6%; rating input score 87; 41st 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; 64th 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: 45.7%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.7% of revenue deployed · 59.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $244K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $8K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 33/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.