Garden State Scholastic Esports Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850529233
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Toms River, NJ, USA
Phone
6097098367
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$377,461
Expenses
$342,097
Assets
$56,288
Liabilities
$302

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS AVILES (PRESIDENT)
  • REGINA SCHAFFER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRIS AVILES (PRESIDENT): $18,000 total reported compensation
  • REGINA SCHAFFER (VICE PRESIDENT): $11,750 total reported compensation
  • JIM MCKOWEN (DIRECTOR OF CAREER AND TEC): $10,059 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

A nonprofit founded by educators, garden state esports is the organizing body of scholastic esports for New Jersey. Our mission is to create high-quality, student-centered experiences through scholastic esports so all students can use esports as a platform to grow socially, emotionally, and academically.

What it reported doing in 2024

Creating high-quality, student-centered experiences through scholastic esports so students can use esports as a platform to grow socially, emotionally and academically

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.4%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 37.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 91.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 1 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $314K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $18K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.