Foundation for Educational Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
470703499
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
Phone
4024796933
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,482,430
Expenses
$22,185,244
Assets
$9,639,447
Liabilities
$4,924,926

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROLYN J THOMA (PRESIDENT)
  • SHANNON R JONES (ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CAROLYN J THOMA (PRESIDENT): $422,518 total reported compensation
  • IRENE DELOZIER (CFO): $371,318 total reported compensation
  • DAN DELZELL (VP INFORMATION TECH): $283,706 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Fes' mission is to be a foundation of support for our affiliates and other nonprofits by providing products, services, & resources so they can fulfill their missions.

What it reported doing in 2024

Supporting our affiliates - fes provides key support services to achieve the respective missions and day to day activities and programs of Nebraska student loan program (nslp) and educationquest foundation. These services include technical, programming, and design services, administrative support services, payroll and human resource management services, building support services, disaster recovery, technical network security infrastructure and support. Key objectives were completed that moved all organizations forward in delivering or enhancing their services for their stakeholders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $20.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $423K · 20 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.