Encore Learning
Legal name: Encore Learning Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 550848376
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
- Location
- Arlington, VA, USA
- Phone
- 703-228-2144
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $273,925
- Expenses
- $178,853
- Assets
- $716,054
- Liabilities
- $3,500
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lora Pollari-Welbes (Executive Director)
- Marilyn Marton (President)
- Mildred Patterson (Vice President and Board Member)
- Steven Shapiro (Vice President, Treasurer)
- Barry Ginsburg (Vice President and Board Member)
Highest reported compensation
- Lora Pollari-Welbes (Executive Director): $53,100 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Encore Learning provides high-quality courses, clubs, and special events for those over 50.
What it reported doing in 2024
Encore Learning has provided about 200 college level courses over the past three years to about 5000 registrants. Courses are offered both in-person in Arlington, Virginia and virtually. Regular special events are sponsored with Arlington Public Library to bring dynamic speakers to the public. Ten clubs engage older adults on a regular basis.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 69
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.9%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 34.7%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 59.9% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $155K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.