Mesa Public Schools Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860550594
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Mesa, AZ, USA
Phone
4804720524
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$747,181
Expenses
$441,643
Assets
$2,014,766
Liabilities
$244,560

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Holly Williams (President)
  • Juanita Harris (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Holly Williams (President)
  • Mindy Baggett (Director)
  • Casandra McCray (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Mesa Public Schools Foundation (Foundation) operates as a support entity to the Mesa Unified School District No. 4. The Foundation is a broadly based non-profit community organization whose purpose is exclusively educational and charitable, and is used to secure and distribute contributions for the benefit of students enrolled and adults working in the mesa Unified School District.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mesa Public Schools Gifts and Grants program receives a block of funds from the Foundation at the beginning of the school year and distributes the funds through mini-grants. Teachers have access to these funds by completing a grant application and funds are awarded after a careful review. Assistance in educating Mesa Public School students is the most appropriate use of these funds. Approximately 20,000 students at over 30 schools benefited through inovation grants and Boeing grant in the 2024 school year. Another 80 teachers amd 245 bus drivers benefitted from the recognition programs related to the mini-grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.7%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 62.4%; rating input score 62; 31st 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.56; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.7% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $364K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.