High Country Home Educators

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841419349
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone
7192386789
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$243,346
Expenses
$242,598
Assets
$96,280
Liabilities
$163

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER VALDOIS (SECRETARY/ASSOC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RYAN DANIELSON (PRESIDENT)
  • ERICA DANIELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JASON MEZEY (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERICA DANIELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $14,000 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER VALDOIS (SECRETARY/ASSOC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $12,000 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN MEZEY (DIRECTOR): $4,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Home education - high country home educators mission is to support christian homeschooling families in raising their children according to deuteronomy 6, and to assist and encourage them in their calling educate their children at home.

What it reported doing in 2024

High country events, activities & program support offers field trips, seminars, support groups for parents, teen groups, graduation ceremony, and other events promoting homeschooling or to assist families as they homeschool their children. High country served over 400 membership families

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 43
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 20%; rating input score 20; 15th 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: 0.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $224K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $14K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.