Pop Culture Classroom

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454798723
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3033251236
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$626,692
Expenses
$680,857
Assets
$433,716
Liabilities
$87,309

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW HESS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ESTEBAN MORIN (PRESIDENT)
  • KYLE BURNETT (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW HESS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $87,132 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Pop culture classroom/comic book classroom uses pop culture to improve literacy, ignite creativity and celebrate diversity.

What it reported doing in 2023

Provide curriculum, teaching guides, workshops, educational resources, community events to educators, students and parents. Within this program we have colorful history comics, game on curriculum, storytelling through comics curriculum, popup events and educational programming we provide to fan expo denver. We are always developing new educational resources and will even customize workshops for schools to meet their needs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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: Limited
  • 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: 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.8%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -14.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -16.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.1% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $545K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2015 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.