Pioneer Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222632081
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6177232277
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,314,648
Expenses
$5,827,893
Assets
$11,078,748
Liabilities
$462,206

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES STERGIOS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • FRANK BAILEY (PRESIDENT OF PIONEERLEGAL)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES STERGIOS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $415,046 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW HORGAN (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $336,667 total reported compensation
  • MARY Z CONAUGHTON (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER/CLERK): $284,381 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pioneer institute empowers americans with choices and opportunities to live freely and thrive. Through expert research, educational initiatives, legal action, and coalition-building, we advance human potential in four critical areas: k-12 education, health, economic opportunity and american civic values.

What it reported doing in 2024

Pioneer education & american citizenship: pioneer builds on its legacy as a leader in the charter public school movement and a champion of greater academic rigor by advancing education reform through data-driven research, podcasts, opinion pieces, and public testimony. Pioneer promotes high academic standards and a broad range of public and private school choice options, including charter schools, regional vocational-technical schools, inter-district school choice programs, tax credit strategies that expand access to private and parochial education for economically disadvantaged students, and expanded virtual learning opportunities. Through us datalabs, pioneer seeks to increase civic engagement by providing free online resources featuring key data on education, government, economics, healthcare, infrastructure, and other policy areas across all 50 states.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.3%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.9; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.7% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $415K · 29 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $102K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.