McDonogh School

Legal name: Mcdonogh School Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
526001577
IRS 990 coverage
2007–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Owings Mills, MD, US
Phone
410-363-0600
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$99,306,105
Expenses
$71,516,868
Assets
$329,632,272
Liabilities
$54,229,756

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL W CUMMINGS (PRESIDENT)
  • H STACEY BOYER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID J FARACE (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $669,436 total reported compensation
  • SHERRI VOELKEL (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $296,405 total reported compensation
  • KATHRYN MUELLER (ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL): $289,724 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through age-appropriate curriculum and co-curricular programs, we are dedicated to developing competencies that empower our students to become ethical leaders.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mcdonogh school is a highly regarded coeducational, independent school with approximately 1,460 students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. An optional five-day boarding program is available for students in grades 9-12. Mcdonogh's academic program is designed to foster a love of learning. The lower school provides a solid foundation with an emphasis on reading, writing, and mathematics. Teachers welcome children as individuals, tailoring the academic curriculum to develop their full potential-intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally. The middle school builds on that foundation with appreciation for the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional needs of young adolescents. Students learn the elements of responsible scholarship in reading, english, world languages, mathematics, science, social studies, and technology. The upper school combines rigorous academics with a wide variety of extracurricular activities. In an environment that fosters versatility, students select honors and advanced courses, develop their athletic and artistic abilities, learn leadership and teamwork skills, and graduate well prepared for college.form 990, part vi, section b, line 10a: the policies described in part vi, section b, lines 10a-16b apply to mcdonogh school, inc. And its affiliate as listed below: folio network, llc

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 28%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.61; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 81.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $58.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $669K · 42 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $13.1M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 17 filing years from 2007 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.