Harding Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620852815
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6153565510
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,010,093
Expenses
$14,703,347
Assets
$55,643,466
Liabilities
$8,372,812

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFF MOATS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELINE DUTIL (INTERIM HEAD OF SCHOOL): $277,137 total reported compensation
  • LAURA UNDERWOOD (DIRECTOR OF LOWER SCHOOL): $185,221 total reported compensation
  • JAY CODISPOTI (DIRECTOR OF MIDDLE SCHOOL): $155,464 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To educate and inspire young people to become thoughtful, creative, lifelong learners and self-disciplined, responsible, caring citizens.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instructional--the school offers an educational curriculum for pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. Expenses include teaching salaries and benefits as well as activities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 78% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.1%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th 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: Limited
  • 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: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.4%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.78; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.1% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $277K · 25 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $9.8M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.