I Have a Dream Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133355315
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9174236690
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Crime, Legal Related N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,410,194
- Expenses
- $4,465,838
- Assets
- $3,477,675
- Liabilities
- $981,064
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
32 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Otis Hackney (President & CEO)
- Lori Canova (Interim CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Otis Hackney (President & CEO): $264,580 total reported compensation
- Lori Canova (Interim CEO): $207,362 total reported compensation
- Nadira Saunders (Chief Operating Officer): $197,840 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 I Have A Dream Foundation (IHDF) is a national nonprofit that expands educational opportunity for children in under-resourced communities through a long-term, cohort-based model that supports Dream Scholars from first grade through first job. Working through a national network of Affiliates and Chapters, IHDF provides individualized academic support, social-emotional learning, family engagement, college and career readiness programming, and guaranteed scholarship assistance for postsecondary pathways. In 2024, the Foundation supported 2,332 Dream Scholars nationwide and remained connected to a community of more than 20,000 Dream Scholar alumni. Through more than 45 years of experience, IHDF has developed an evidence-informed model that helps students enroll in, persist through, and complete postsecondary education while building the skills, confidence, relationships, and opportunities needed for lifelong success and upward economic mobility. IHDF continues to strengthen its model b
What it reported doing in 2024
The "I Have A Dream" Foundation (IHDF) strengthens and continuously improves its evidence-informed, long-term program model to improve outcomes for Dream Scholars across its national network of Affiliates and Chapters. Through ongoing evaluation, performance measurement, and strategic planning, IHDF identifies opportunities to enhance program quality, strengthen affiliate capacity, and ensure that Dream Scholars receive consistent, high-quality support from elementary school through postsecondary completion. In 2024, IHDF continued to strengthen its national network by launching a new Chapter in Atlanta, expanding Dream Scholar cohorts within existing Affiliates and Chapters, and enhancing program quality through Children's Savings Account initiatives, expanded postsecondary supports, and data-informed continuous improvement efforts. IHDF's long-term cohort model combines individualized academic support, social-emotional learning, family engagement, mentoring, college and career readiness, leadership development, and guaranteed tuition assistance to help Dream Scholars succeed in school, complete a postsecondary pathway, and pursue long-term economic mobility. These efforts are designed to improve high school graduation, postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion while strengthening the capacity of Affiliates and Chapters to deliver consistent, evidence-informed programming.By continuously strengthening its model and equipping Affiliates and Chapters with evidence-based tools and resources, IHDF helps ensure that its growing national network delivers high-quality programming and measurable outcomes for Dream Scholars, families, and communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 98
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $265K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $188K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 7 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.