Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204840080
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ellicott City, MD, USA
Phone
4103138992
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$414,704
Expenses
$432,017
Assets
$243,718
Liabilities
$12,664

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jennifer Van Kirk (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jennifer Van Kirk (Executive Director): $69,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bright Minds improves education outcomes for all Howard County public school students by bringing together community support to address resource & opportunity gaps faced by students and educators

What it reported doing in 2024

Resources for Learning: Bright Minds has worked since its founding to remove barriers to learning and ensure students have access to resources they need to succeed. Bright Minds partners with HCPSS to provide emergency assistance and supplies to students experiencing homelessness to reduce education disruption and dropout. Bright Minds also supported investments in science and career and technical education technology, equipment, and supplies used in all high schools; the delivery of out-of-school credit recovery tutoring for at-risk students; and the distribution of 3,723 Chromebooks to families in need. Since 2020, Bright Minds has raised nearly $675,000 for critical educational resources and support that has reached students in all county schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 77% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.2%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $334K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.