National Scholarship Providers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364280502
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Phone
3034422524
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,864,176
Expenses
$1,600,467
Assets
$3,303,094
Liabilities
$413,308

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bob Ballard (President)
  • Yvonne Moody (President-Elect)
  • Tiffany Anderson (Past President)
  • Jackie Bright (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jackie Bright (Executive Director): $177,904 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) is to empower scholarship providers with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to enhance the impact of scholarships. NSPA fosters a professional community that supports postsecondary success through networking, professional development, and access to best-in-class tools and resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, NSPA expanded The Exchange, a first-of-its-kind national database of verified scholarship programs, developed with foundational support from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The Exchange provides critical infrastructure for the scholarship field, enabling providers to benchmark programs, analyze trends, and make data-informed decisions. By the end of 2024, the Exchange included over 22,000 verified scholarship opportunities made available to students through NSPA's data partners, significantly improving access and visibility. Continued on Schedule O. In 2024, NSPA also launched a state-level partnership model beginning with Florida, resulting in the state's first comprehensive scholarship landscape report and the development of a Florida-specific database for residents. This replicable model is designed to be scaled nationwide to improve local and regional access to scholarships, while also contributing to national insights and best practices.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $53.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.1%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.06; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.5% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 17 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $102K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.