Motheread Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581811261
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9197812088
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$605,908
Expenses
$620,336
Assets
$19,899
Liabilities
$29,966

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROLYN H DICKENS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CAROLYN H DICKENS (PRESIDENT): $86,132 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promoting and enhancing literacy practices

What it reported doing in 2015

TRAINING AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT: The Motheread training coordinator and other staff made visits to community colleges and community based organizations across the state. These visits provided an opportunity for program evaluations and recommendations for improvement. Trainings were held across the state through the initiative funded by the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) office. The majority of participants trained were Adult Basic Education (ABE) faculty. In addition to the trainings funded by the North Carolina Community College System office, other trainings were conducted in North Carolina and in our affiliate network across the country. The goal of these trainings are to increase the frequency and quality of low-literacy parent/childcare provider/early childhood educator reading to children, more visits to the libraries and more books in home and childcare centers. Motheread also continued to be a part of the Early Learning Challenge program in the Eastern counties of North Carolina. They were also involved in the Wake Public Schools Wake Up and Read program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th 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: -2.4%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.51; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -41.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $550K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2011 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.