Marshall First Step Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813876839
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Marshall, IL, USA
Phone
2178263030
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Reported finances

Revenue
$520,698
Expenses
$619,512
Assets
$47,776
Liabilities
$140,000

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cassandra Howard (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cassandra Howard (Executive Director): $22,802 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Marshall First Step Academy it is our mission to provide the highest quality care and early education in a caring warm and safe environment that values all children as individuals. All children in our care are provided with a developmentally appropriate education that prepares them for success in school and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

At Marshall First Step our Childcare Preschool Program provides early care and education for a maximum of 94 children each day. Children range in age from 6 weeks through 12 years. Our program provides an essential service to our community as we are currently the only early care and education program in the area. In 2023 we began an expansion to increase the number of children we are able to care for each day. While the expansion resulted in an increase in expenses we are still working to build enrollment and therefore increase revenue. The program secured a loan for $140000 at 0% interest to cover the initial loss as the program continues to grow.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 74% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.93; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 73.8% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 56.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $620K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $23K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.