Oakland School Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383533533
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waterford, MI, USA
Phone
2482092000
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$227,569
Expenses
$94,720
Assets
$598,101
Liabilities
$7,266

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kenneth Gutman (Vice President, Administrative Services)
  • John Landis (President)
  • Jeff Sakwa (Vice President, Development)

People named in this filing

  • Kenneth Gutman (Vice President, Administrative Services)
  • Barbara DeMarco (Trustee)
  • Katherine Banicki (Trustee)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

We maximize innovative learning opportunities to prepare Oakland Schools' students for personal and professional success. Our vision is to be a fully sustainable, high performing non-profit organization that is widely recognized as a champion for public education and works in collaboration with Oakland Schools to support core educational programs.We grow students' potential in our community by supporting Oakland Schools and the programs they prioritize. We serve as connectors between business and community leaders and Oakland Schools and raise funds to support Oakland Schools educational programs. We make Oakland Schools aware of the changing needs of businesses and the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Spelling Bee: The Oakland County Spelling Bee has been open to Oakland County students in the fifth-through eighth grade since 1998, always boasting a high participation rate. More than 90 students each year qualify by winning their local school spelling bee. The previous sponsor of the Spelling Bee is now unable to continue their support, so the Foundation decided to support the event for the County. The National Spelling Bee was first started in 1925 when nine newspapers joined together to host a spelling bee for the purpose of helping students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them throughout their lives. Ninety years later, their literacy effort reaches 11 million students every year. Funds were awarded to the winner to reimburse expenses for airfare, lodging and meals. Additional expenses were incurred, including Scripps Spelling Bee partnership fee, event rental and supplies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 63% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. 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: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 33.3%; rating input score 33
  • Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 58.4%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.31; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -63.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 33.3% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $65K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 33/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.