Friends Select School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
230604370
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2155615900
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,729,714
Expenses
$20,235,322
Assets
$35,402,509
Liabilities
$10,011,679

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SANDRA WILLIAMS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL GARY (Head of School): $286,258 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL NOONAN (Bus. Manager): $161,385 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER SINGLER (Upper School Dir): $134,140 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide Quaker based education

What it reported doing in 2017

Private school (grades pre-k to 12) with an enrollment of approximately 500 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $286K · 28 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $3.4M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2009 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.