High School Youth Initiative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391906073
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Viroqua, WI, USA
Phone
6086376445
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Reported finances

Revenue
$590,611
Expenses
$630,452
Assets
$661,917
Liabilities
$213,233

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALYCANN TAYLOR (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW VOZ (ADMINISTRATO): $35,000 total reported compensation
  • ERIK HARRIS (DIRECTOR/FAC): $28,000 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN LAVOIE (TREASURER): $28,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Youth initiative high school provides holistic waldorf-inspired education for grades 9-12, striving to integrate "head, heart, and hands" (thinking, feeling, and willing) into the fabric of school life. Parents, students, and faculty work together to encourage and assist students in becoming free thinkers, and in maturing, into active, response-able, empowered participants in the greater society. The school, its students, families and faculty strives to be of service to the larger community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Meaningful evaluation and individual support for students - growing up comes with great opportunities and challenges. Adolescents grapple with questions of identity, purpose, belonging, personal values, and what the future holds. At the same time, they are learning to balance school, jobs, homework, sports, relationships, and extracurricular activities. At youth initiative, we understand adolescents. We provide challenge and support, responsibility and freedom, structure and independence. From our small classroom size to our unique care group system of support, we are able to pay close attention to each student, to meet them where they are, and to help them grow and flourish in the ways they need most. Our faculty members write detailed reports of student progress for each class weekly, so parents and students can track growth and look for areas of improvement. These reports reveal far more about each student's capabilities, contributions, and areas of challenge than a letter grade ever could. Collectively, these narrative reports also create an impressive transcript that helps youth initiative students stand out in the college application process. The teaching of around 60 students in grades 9-12 through standard waldorf high school curriculum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% 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 most filed governance safeguards are in place. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 52
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 54.5%; rating input score 55; 12th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.4% of revenue deployed · 78% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $492K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $35K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 55/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.