High 5 Adventure Learning Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 030363893
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brattleboro, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8022548718
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,363,819
- Expenses
- $2,791,766
- Assets
- $1,813,983
- Liabilities
- $870,497
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRIAN KIRK (VICE PRESIDENT)
- TOM SKINNER (PRESIDENT)
- JENNIFER OTTINGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JENNIFER OTTINGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $126,404 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Dedicated to helping individuals, schools, and communities use experiential education as an effective tool for improving the way they live, learn, and work together.
What it reported doing in 2024
Edge of leadership: the edge of leadership program provides adventure-based youth leadership development through work performed in schools and on our brattleboro campus and challenge course. Our four experiential educators with 65 years of collective experience guide students in grades 5 through 12, and their teachers, to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, increase social and emotional intelligence, work collaboratively in and out of the classroom, manage projects while guiding and leading others, and open doors to improving school culture and academic performance. In 2015 eol launched a demonstration project to apply the eol model system-wide in the keene, nh school district. We deliver ourprograms to all 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders in the classroom throughout the school year, and students visit our location and challenge course each semester. High school participants receive leadership development training in the summer at high 5 and then identify a particular issue to work on and improve in their school, with leadership development programming that includes teachers. Total served during the 2020-2021 school year: 175+ students and educators. Since 2011, thousands of youth and adults have participated in eol at sites throughout the northeast.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 86% 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
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -18.1%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.