Lawrence Schools Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
481016950
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lawrence, KS, USA
Phone
7853301941
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$947,697
Expenses
$598,893
Assets
$4,875,871
Liabilities
$13,046

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROB GILLESPIE (President)
  • SANDRA GAUTT (Past President)
  • ANNIE MYERS (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DENA JOHNSTON (EXEC. DIRECTOR): $87,287 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enrich the education provided to all students in the lawrence public school system.

What it reported doing in 2024

School assistance grants - needs based grants for schools; district wide program support - grants made upon request by authorized district administrators from restricted funds established for various district programs, including school specific programs; teacher innovation grant program - provide grants to teachers for innovative classroom/school programs and projects.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 89% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.9%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.8%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.14; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.9% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $419K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.