Instruction Partners

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475380182
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6155415323
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,314,943
Expenses
$28,894,797
Assets
$28,515,698
Liabilities
$3,663,934

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EMILY FREITAG (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • EMILY FREITAG (CEO): $315,715 total reported compensation
  • BENJAMIN FENTON (CHIEF OF GROWTH & DELIVERY): $294,087 total reported compensation
  • MALIKA ANDERSON (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $286,817 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We work shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders to support teachers in delivering excellent daily instruction in ELA, early literacy, math, and science that helps all students succeed—particularly students of color, students experiencing poverty, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction partners is an organization commited to the mission of ensuring a high-quality education for all children. Our goal is to work with school districts to improve instruction by providing support services for districts and collaborating to find and implement solutions for instructional challenges.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.6%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $35.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: -14.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 96.6% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $24.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $316K · 22 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $244K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.