Cognia

Legal name: Measured Progress Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311668672
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2018
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Alpharetta, GA, US
Phone
1.888.413.3669
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,790,166
Expenses
$37,037,908
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Martin Borg (President/Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr Mark A Elgart (Past Secretary): $833,369 total reported compensation
  • Martin Borg (President/Director): $394,270 total reported compensation
  • David Ernst (Sr. VP Business Development): $306,488 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To serve as a trusted partner in advancing learning.

What it reported doing in 2018

Measured Progress, Inc. provides large-scale, special population and targeted educational assessment services and products to various state and local educational systems in the United States.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 5
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 53.8%; rating input score 54; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -24.3%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $31.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $833K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $24.3M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2009 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.