Lilac Montessori

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
922876493
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Escondido, CA, USA
Phone
6195385457
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Reported finances

Revenue
$315,978
Expenses
$285,318
Assets
$98,909
Liabilities
$174,116

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Heather Zolzer (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Heather Zolzer (Executive Director): $89,480 total reported compensation
  • Brittany Keegan (Member): $44,950 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lilac Montessori is a nonprofit early childhood education program providing Montessori-based learning for children ages 18 months through 5 years. The school operates a mixed-age Montessori classroom that supports children's independence, concentration, and social development. During the tax year, the organization provided daily classroom instruction, maintained Montessori learning materials and classroom environments, supported staff training and curriculum development, and maintained its educational facility to ensure a high-quality learning environment for enrolled students.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lilac Montessori is an educational organization dedicated to providing Montessori-based early childhood education. During the tax year, the organization focused on preparing its educational facility, developing curriculum materials, and establishing administrative and operational systems necessary to support student enrollment. Activities included facility preparation, acquisition of educational equipment and materials, staff planning and training, and organizational oversight to ensure readiness for the upcoming school year. These efforts were undertaken to support the organization's mission of providing high-quality Montessori education to children in the community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.76; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 47.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 127% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 2 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $228K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $89K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.