Great Public Schools for Iowa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 883979139
IRS 990-EZ coverage: 2022–2025
Forms available: Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location: Urbandale, IA, USA
Phone: 5158297707
Rating: 84
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue: $127,039
Expenses: $233,413
Assets: $60,830
Liabilities: $771

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

MARK JACOBS (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

MARK JACOBS (PRESIDENT)
DEBBIE CRAIG (MEMBER)
DAVID HEWITT (MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The primary purpose of great public schools for Iowa is to advance public education by advocating for and supporting the development of public charter schools in Iowa.

Operating model

Revenue model: Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 83
Transparency & Controls: 100
Sustainability: 19
Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
Program expense ratio: 55.4%; rating input score 55

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

Operating margin: -83.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 53.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: -10.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: -19.1% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 55.4% of spending went to programs
Governance: Filed governance answers
Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $129K in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
Schedules: 3 filed schedules
Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2025
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
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.

Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.