Inspire Charter Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464743375
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
Duarte, CA, USA
Phone
6264879943
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$76,018,441
Expenses
$88,098,317
Assets
$15,814,456
Liabilities
$33,725,016

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNY THOMPSON (President)
  • JODI ERICKSON (President)
  • SUZANNE NUNNINK (President)
  • ALICE WONG (President)
  • JEFF PRAY (President)
  • DR HERBERT TAYLOR NICHOLS III (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR HERBERT TAYLOR NICHOLS III (CEO): $514,197 total reported compensation
  • KIMMI BUZZARD (Trustee): $225,583 total reported compensation
  • CRISTINO ALCALA (Trustee): $165,799 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide a high standard of education to students through comprehensive curriculum supported by energetic, dynamic, and caring teachers.

What it reported doing in 2016

Provide a virtual curriculum model that emphasizes meeting individual students' needs for meeting the California common core state standards for their grade level.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 42
  • Sustainability: 6
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 15.9%; rating input score 16; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.13; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 111.8% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 112% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 101.1% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.7% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 44 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $72.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $514K · 44 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2014 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 27 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.