Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521804509
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rockville, MD, USA
Phone
2407403216
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,313,090
Expenses
$3,436,946
Assets
$13,326,690
Liabilities
$5,408,642

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kristen Callisto (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kristen Callisto (Executive Director): $80,010 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation (MCPSEF) supports student success in MCPS by funding special and innovative programs that regular funds cannot support.

What it reported doing in 2024

MCPSEF's primary program services consist of providing direct financial support to students and educators through scholarships, awards to graduating seniors, and grantmaking activities. In the spring of 2025, the organization awarded $1.9 million in scholarships and awards to 198 students across 14 scholarship and award programs. Of these, 170 students received MCPSEF's largest scholarship (in recipients), a four-year scholarship totaling $10,000 per recipient, established in honor of Ruth and Norman Rales and former Montgomery County Board of Education member Patricia Baier O'Neill.During the same period, MCPSEF distributed $1.15 million in grants to the MCPS. MCPSEF's grants program includes 51 educator grants of $5,000 or less designed to support classroom innovation, as well as larger strategic investments of up to $500,000 to advance science education initiatives.These activities directly further M's exempt purpose by expanding educational opportunity, supporting academic achievement, and strengthening instructional resources within the community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 66.1%; rating input score 66; 18th 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: 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: Pass
    • 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: -3.7%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.88; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.