Living Classrooms Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521369524
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Baltimore, MD, USA
- Phone
- 4106850295
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $14,757,809
- Expenses
- $9,971,356
- Assets
- $50,471,228
- Liabilities
- $7,504,549
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
90 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMES PIPER BOND (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- THARA TAYLOR (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES PIPER BOND (PRESIDENT & CEO): $502,886 total reported compensation
- CINDY WADALAVAGE (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $225,796 total reported compensation
- THARA TAYLOR (VICE PRESIDENT): $179,980 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Living classrooms foundation is a nonprofit organization, operated for the benefit of the community at large, providing hands on education and job training for students from diverse backgrounds, with a special emphasis on serving at-risk youth. The foundation uses maritime settings, community revitalization projects and other challenging learning environments, with a low staff to student ratio. Our experience based educational programs emphasize the applied learning of math, science, language arts, history, economics and ecology. Key objectives of all living classrooms programs are career development, cooperative learning, elevating self-esteem, and fostering multicultural exchange. Living classrooms foundation provides over 30 educational programs.
What it reported doing in 2024
Living classrooms foundation operates for the benefit of the community at large, providing hands on education and job skill training for students from diverse backgrounds, with an emphasis on serving at-risk youth.
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 76
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.9%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $24.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 32.4%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.06; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 61.9% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 83 of 83 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $503K · 90 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $487K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 14 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: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.