Helena Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810544494
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Helena, MT, USA
Phone
4064432545
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$482,054
Expenses
$417,475
Assets
$464,377
Liabilities
$326

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TIM MELDRUM (PRESIDENT)
  • JANA GARZA (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • KYLE SPENCER (PAST-PRESIDENT)
  • LISA CORDINGLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA CORDINGLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $85,598 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Helena Education Foundation HEF is to enrich education in the Helena Public Schools through consistent community investment of time talent funding and resources. Activities include educator and student recognition grants for pilot and enrichment programs and community outreach programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education instructor pilot and enrichment programs in classrooms -events include Great Ideas Grants and Spark Grants - the premier program achievement of the Helena Education Foundation. These dollars target Helena Educators who propose education programs for students in Pre-K-12 Helena School District. Competitively based educators submit a program description and budget. If successful the educator is awarded a one-year grant based on the standards established by the HEF board. Generally 30-40 educators receive awards annually ranging from a low of 100 to a high of 5,000 for an annual budget that totals 65,000. These programs impact between 3000-5000 students. The STEAM-Rolling into Helena Schools special project provided LEGO STEAM kits to classrooms K-8 for hands-on experience with construction & deconstruction simple machines motors & aviation engineering & design and coding & robotics. This project also provided training for staff to help them implement the LEGO STEAM kits into their classrooms.-

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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.5%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.6% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $344K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 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 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.