Montana Professional Learning Collaborative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462510133
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Ronan, MT, USA
Phone
4055291113
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$882,252
Expenses
$828,737
Assets
$199,286
Liabilities
$10,138

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jessica Johnson (Executive Dir.): $112,477 total reported compensation
  • Cindy Fouhy (Director): $78,022 total reported compensation
  • Erin Lipkind (Director): $18,507 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the corporation is to provide high quality professional development opportunities and services which support communities of lifelong learners to achieve successful outcomes for children and youth throughout Montana. Areas of focus shall include, but not be limited to: professional development, consultation, contractual services, technical assistance, technology services, purchasing services, and all other areas authorized by law.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Montana Professional Learning Collaborative (MTPLC) provides statewide professional development services to educators through in-person, online, and blended learning formats. MTPLC serves over 1,000 schools across Montanas 490 public school districts, with a focus on improving educator effectiveness and student outcomes. MTPLC delivers a range of programs designed to support whole-child education, integrating academic, social, emotional, and behavioral learning strategies. A primary program offering is the annual August Institute, a multi-day professional development event that emphasizes holistic teaching practices, including trauma-informed care, social-emotional learning, and instructional innovation. In 2025, participation in the August Institute increased from approximately 250 educators in 2024, reflecting continued demand for high-quality professional learning opportunities. Throughout 2025, MTPLC expanded its catalog of online courses and regional workshops to meet the evolving needs of Montana educators, including those in rural and geographically isolated communities. These programs are designed to increase access to relevant, research-based instructional practices and improve educator capacity statewide. MTPLC also administers and manages federal grant funding in partnership with the Montana Small School Alliance (MSSA). In 2025, MTPLC oversaw approximately $2,000,000 in federal funds aimed at increasing equity in student services for rural, tribal, and frontier school districts. This initiative serves more than 300 small and tribal districts by providing access to mental health services, school counseling, trauma-informed practices, violence prevention resources, and basic needs support for students and families. In fall 2024, MTPLC hired a full-time Executive Director to support organizational growth and program expansion. In 2025, this leadership structure enhanced MTPLCs capacity to manage grant programs, strengthen partnerships, and deliver high-quality services aligned with its mission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 26.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $712K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.