Noble and Greenough School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042104784
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Dedham, MA, USA
Phone
7813263700
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$84,781,069
Expenses
$65,132,825
Assets
$424,414,045
Liabilities
$62,458,199

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN MONTGOMERY (PRESIDENT)
  • JANET RAPELYE (VICE PRESIDENT (AS OF 6/12/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • CATHERINE J HALL (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $983,650 total reported compensation
  • STEPHEN M GINSBERG (CFOO AND ASST. HEAD OF SCHOOL): $463,105 total reported compensation
  • JOHN T GIFFORD (ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL): $401,909 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 noble and greenough school is to forge human connections to inspire a lifelong process of discovery and unlock the potential to do good. The community is grounded in the values of curiosity, respect, playfulness, generosity, and belonging.

What it reported doing in 2024

Achieve: a tuition-free educational program serving low-income middle school children from boston public schools, achieve provides academic and personal enrichment through a rigorous and engaging six-week summer program and ongoing academic year tutoring and support. Achieve seeks to increase students' academic skills, motivation, and self-confidence and put them on the path to college - 67 students, 26 members of faculty.

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 85% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.2%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.52; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.4% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $54.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $984K · 35 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $22.4M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.