Partnership Scholars Program
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 030433957
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 9517908313
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $20,164
- Expenses
- $518,568
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lisa Ruben (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Lisa Ruben (Executive Director): $120,433 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our services include mentoring, educational & cultural enrichment activities, and college access guidance. Partnership Scholars Program offers students the skills, knowledge and support they need to prepare for, enter, and graduate from college. Students graduate from our Scholars Program in possession of the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success in college, career and life - and to build the future they dream of.
What it reported doing in 2024
Partnership Scholars Program serves students from two different communities in southern California. We offer students the skills, knowledge and support they need to prepare for, enter, and graduate from college. Our services include mentoring; educational and cultural enrichment activities; and college access guidance. Specifically, we pair students with highly qualified mentors, who build positive & sustained relationships with students, and interact regularly with them, communicating about school, college and life. We provide students with a host of enrichment activities - college visits, educational field trips and more - to bridge the opportunity divide, expand students' horizons and broaden their worldview. The experiences we provide further support students' entry (Continuation Schedule O)into and graduation from college. We help to level the academic playing field by ensuring students enroll in SAT & ACT test-preparation classes and in academically rigorous courses. We help participants obtain any necessary academic tutoring as well as provide them with educational materials and supplies, as needed. We also provide college-access guidance to students, helping them navigate the college-preparation and admission process. We ensure they are well versed in the "A-G" college entrance requirements and help them create a college-admission plan. Partnership Scholars Program guides students through the financial-aid process, helping them complete their financial-aid application, and obtain grants, scholarships, work-study and loans needed to cover college-cost. During our alumni's first year of college, PSP provides scholarship support to cover costs of college like textbooks, meal plans, school fees and the ability to do recreational activities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 4
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $0.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th 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; 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; 64th 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: 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: -2,471.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -14.4% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -9.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $392K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.