Legacy Scholars

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
342039472
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Battle Creek, MI, USA
Phone
2699622181
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$344,615
Expenses
$493,502
Assets
$181,686
Liabilities
$21,912

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY MULIETT (CEO/PRESIDENT - PARTIAL YEAR)
  • JOANN FARNHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY MULIETT (CEO/PRESIDENT - PARTIAL YEAR): $121,248 total reported compensation
  • JOANN FARNHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $87,045 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 provide educational, emotional, social, and financial support and opportunities for battle creek public and lakeview school district students to graduate from high school and obtain a college degree or certificate.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide educational opportunities and programs to create a college-going culture in battle creek. Continuous support in all battle creek high schools with resources, advising, and workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.

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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.7%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $50.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -43.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.7% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $337K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.