Nest Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813637711
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
9802884163
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,162,655
Expenses
$849,372
Assets
$1,099,781
Liabilities
$5,200

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mary Catherine Hildreth (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Catherine Hildreth (President): $82,120 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 Nest Academy is a trauma-informed, private K-12 school in Charlotte, North Carolina with a mission to change the lives of refugee and underprivileged students to become confident, educated, and successful first generation high school graduates. The Nest Academy offers students an individualized education plan in a small, safe and supportive environment through highly trained teachers, volunteers and mentors. The students flourish in this peaceful environment where they are accepted, known and supported, which extends outside of the classroom.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Nest Academy began with a focus in affording refugees and underprivileged children with a private school education with an individual education plan to excel and become first generation high school graduates. They are tested, correctly placed and taught in each of their educational levels so that students receive what they weren't getting in a public school setting so that they are better equipped for life and higher education. They have a unique opportunity to develop at the academy through their gifted education that they are able to springboard from. In our pursuit to educate first generation elementary, middle and high schoolers, with a focus on higher education, we also had a vision to provide additional support and funding to encourage college participation and completion. We have partnered with donors to financially contribute to both of those efforts; first generation high school graduates and first generation college students. We have executed a plan and have been able which fast tracks them to succeed in both.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.7%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: 26.9%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.7% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $599K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.