Gaston Day School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
566076613
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Gastonia, NC, USA
Phone
7048647744
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,247,016
Expenses
$11,878,676
Assets
$42,918,855
Liabilities
$7,837,920

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVIDSON ROBERT HOBSON (HEAD OF SCHO): $248,210 total reported compensation
  • VANN NOBLETT (DIRECTOR OF): $171,210 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gaston day school (gds) is an independent school whose mission is to educate our students and prepare them for success and responsible and productive lives. Gds offers an experience that rewards students for a lifetime and gives them an education that goes far beyond our curriculum.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gaston day school, inc. (gds) is a nonsectarian, college-preparatory school for grades preschool through 12 with over 500 students. Academic excellence is the school's hallmark: the elementary and middle school score in the top half of the nation's independent schools on standardized tests; sat scores on critical reading and math are constantly gaston county's highest; and our ap test pass rate is over 80%. With general academic excellence in all upper school subjects, the writing and fine arts programs regularly win regional and national awards. Athletics and the fine arts remain integral to the comprehensive education that the school provides. Gds has a rich history and looks forward to a bright future of continued growth and academic excellence.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 86% 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 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.1%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.61; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.1% of revenue deployed · 70.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.