Our World Neighborhood Charter School
Legal name: Our World Neighborhood Charter Schools
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 113602805
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Astoria, NY, US
- Phone
- (718) 392-3405
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $34,955,154
- Expenses
- $37,750,219
- Assets
- $130,879,888
- Liabilities
- $135,793,715
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRIAN FERGUSON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
Highest reported compensation
- BRIAN FERGUSON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $312,140 total reported compensation
- RICHARD LEE (CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER): $242,028 total reported compensation
- DOUGLAS RICKETTS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $209,328 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Welcome to OWNCS. OWN Charter Schools are excellent places for young people to learn. Since our doors first opened, we have worked tirelessly to meet our goal of providing our diverse student body with an excellent education based on active inquiry, experiential learning, and social justice. We prepare our students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our world neighborhood charter schools' (owncs) serves a successful kindergarten through grade 8 educational program. The school provides academic educational service for 190 days during the school year. As such, their students are tested on a regular basis as required by the New York city board of education. In fiscal year 2025, they operated classes for 1,370 students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 91% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.47; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.04; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 91.7% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $32.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $312K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.3M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.