Episcopal Divinity School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042105768
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6467130845
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,279,607
Expenses
$3,053,600
Assets
$97,864,397
Liabilities
$80,532

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KELLY BROWN DOUGLAS (DEAN/INTERIM PRESIDENT (THRU 09/30/2024))
  • LYDIA BUCKLIN (DEAN AND PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KELLY BROWN DOUGLAS (DEAN/INTERIM PRESIDENT (THRU 09/30/2024)): $227,460 total reported compensation
  • LYDIA BUCKLIN (DEAN AND PRESIDENT): $123,197 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Education of persons for leadership in christian denominations, and particularly for the episcopal church, and for the ministry thereof.

What it reported doing in 2024

Episcopal divinity school (the school), a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation that was established in 1974 as a result of the merger of philadelphia divinity school and episcopal theological school. The purpose of the school is to educate lay and ordained leaders for christ's church and for the world who serve and advance god's mission of justice, compassion, and reconciliation.the school's board of trustees (the board) voted on july 21, 2016, to cease granting degrees after the 2016-2017 academic year. The school entered into an affiliation agreement, effective july 1, 2017, with union theological seminary (union). The affiliation agreement provided for the establishment of a program at union entitled episcopal divinity school at union theological seminary (the program). Students who enrolled in the program at union earned graduate degrees from union and also fulfilled requirements for ordination in the episcopal church. On march 31, 2023, the school and union canceled the affiliation agreement effective june 30, 2023. During the year ended june 30, 2024, the board approved an additional $4,400,000 endowment draw for net assets without donor restrictions to fund the one-time disaffiliation payment to union, resulting in a spending rate above the standard 4% policy.following its disaffiliation from union, the school continues to advance its mission through a renewed strategic focus on flexible, justice-centered theological education delivered outside a traditional residential seminary model. The school has expanded its programmatic offerings to include short-format courses, webinars, colloquia, and convenings that address contemporary theological, social-justice, and leadership-development topics. In lieu of operating its own degree-granting program, the school is pursuing collaborative partnerships with accredited seminaries, dioceses, and other church bodies to support formation needs across the episcopal church and the anglican communion. The school remains

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 48
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 27.3%; rating input score 27
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -34%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 32.05; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 27.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $833K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $227K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $527K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.