Prep for Prep

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
132613383
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2125791390
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,174,524
Expenses
$15,467,973
Assets
$62,971,854
Liabilities
$1,181,659

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

Leadership & pay

93 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YAHONNES CLEARY (PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTOPHER JAMES (PRESIDENT)
  • SUE MENG (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & SECRETARY)
  • DANIEL M NEIDICH (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • FRANK K BYNUM JR (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KENNETH CAPLAN (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RUTH JURGENSEN (CEO THROUGH 11/15/24): $424,122 total reported compensation
  • JACKSON COLLINS (CEO FROM 11/18/24): $314,696 total reported compensation
  • SHARON MADISON (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $275,104 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Prep for prep was established in 1978 with the objective of providing educational access and opportunity to New York city's most promising students to enable them to become leaders in their communities and in the country's major institutions.

What it reported doing in 2024

Talent search our admissions team identifies 200 students each year for admission to prep for prep, selected among nearly 4,000 annual inquiries from students in nyc public schools. The admissions process is extensive and highly competitive. Students are chosen for their academic potential and intellectual capacity, their commitment to learning and growth, their courage and integrity, their determination to succeed, and their resilience. Alumni affairs for prep's alumni, now over 4,500 strong and growing, we build community through a variety of engagement programs that encourage a life-long commitment to prep and its mission. Ongoing networking, professional development, and social gatherings, along with opportunities to give back their time, knowledge, and treasure, ensure that our students have role models, mentors, and champions to help them reach their full potential and follow in the footsteps of their fellow alumni.expertise & leadership impact prep has a longstanding commitment to sharing its program model and experience and boasts a growing list of more than 250 organizations and social entrepreneurs who have benefited from our knowledge, methods, and approaches. Additionally, prep supports its partner schools with information-sharing and professional advice and support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 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: -38.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.07; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 79 of 79 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $12.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $424K · 93 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 2/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.