Nashville Freedom School Partnership

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472482982
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6153591656
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$181,077
Expenses
$218,369
Assets
$43,497
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ashiya Swan (Executive Director)
  • MacKenzie Milon (Board President)
  • Brittainy Hall (Board Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ashiya Swan (Executive Director): $78,000 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 Nashville Freedom School Partnership(C) uses literacy to instill cultural pride, self-assurance, and active citizenship with a primary focus on children of color.

What it reported doing in 2025

Summer Literacy and Cultural Enrichment Program Services Provided: NFSP operates a six-week summer literacy program serving children in grades K-8 in historically underserved Nashville communities. The program uses the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools Integrated Reading Curriculum (IRC) to promote reading proficiency, cultural pride, and leadership development. Daily activities include high-quality literacy instruction, social-emotional learning, civic engagement, and enrichment opportunities such as STEM, arts, and dance. Persons Benefited: In 2025, NFSP served 42 scholars across locations in North Nashville. Scholars received personalized instruction in a 10:1 scholar-to-teacher ratio, ensuring individualized support. Impact: In 2025, 78.3% of NFSP scholars maintained or improved their reading levels, with an average reading level increase of seven months. Scholars also demonstrated increased social-emotional competencies, including improved self-confidence, conflict resolution, and civic engagement. Parents reported high satisfaction, with 100% stating that the program positively impacted their children's social and academic development

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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

STRONG - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.8% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $181K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.