Nova Principles Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821105658
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Lehi, UT, USA
Phone
3853362551
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$113,965
Expenses
$118,643
Assets
$72,668
Liabilities
$21,615

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LYMAN GIFFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BART SMITH (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LYMAN GIFFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $43,999 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Nurturing youth to seek out positive opportunities, internalize good values, and to accept accountability for their choices in life.

What it reported doing in 2025

For the year ended December 31, 2025, N.O.V.A. Principles Foundation operated the following programs: NOVA Principles: NOVA is taught to adolescents, male and female, grades 5 through 11. The program is taught by certified NOVA Instructors.NOVA's curriculum is built around five core principlesAccountability, Purpose, Positivity, Discipline, and Respectwhich help youth develop sound decision-making skills and personal responsibility.Free supplemental materials are provided to parents and family members by subscription.Working with local law enforcement, NOVA reviews existing community outreach programs and develops strategies to increase success among adolescents. NOVA continues to identify the need for skill development in principle-based decision-making.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.
  • 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -25.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.4% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $97K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $44K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.