Phoenixville Community Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
141855127
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenixville, PA, USA
Phone
6109335911
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$405,371
Expenses
$338,833
Assets
$1,692,742
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VALERIE KENNON (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • LAURA BOMBERGER (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOAN CADIGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOAN CADIGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $47,428 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pcef is committed to enhancing and enriching the educational experience of phoenixville area school district students so they learn, grow, and thrive inside and outside the classroom.

What it reported doing in 2024

Phoenixville community education foundation (pcef) continued its support of many educational initiatives in phoenixville through the generosity of community members, local businesses, private foundations and the department of community and economic development. These activities included: summer remediation programs: in the summer of 2025, pcef provided $30,000 in grant support for literacy and math remediation programming in grades k - 8. Through these programs, students were able to receive the assistance they needed to improve/maintain their skills over the summer allowing them to enter the next school year ready to take on the challenges of the next grade level.pcef also provided over $35,000 in support of food packs for students in grades k - 5 experiencing food insecurity. Pcef provided over $12,000 in backpacks and supplies for economically-disadvantaged students in grades k-12.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 82% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd 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: 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: 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.4%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.3% of revenue deployed · 86.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $295K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $47K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.