Putney School Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 030179305
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Putney, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8023876215
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $29,019,597
- Expenses
- $21,876,667
- Assets
- $82,980,350
- Liabilities
- $8,326,313
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- DANIEL O'BRIEN (HEAD OF SCHOOL/TRUSTEE): $360,077 total reported compensation
- STEPHANIE HARKINS (TREASURER/CFOO): $162,405 total reported compensation
- KAYLA YANNATOS (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $155,207 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization is committed to developing each student's full intellectual, artistic and physical potential. Students are encouraged to challenge themselves intellectually, to pursue rigorous learning for its own sake, (see schedule o)the organization is committed to developing each student's full intellectual, artistic and physical potential. Students are encouraged to challenge themselves intellectually, to pursue rigorous learning for its own sake, to actively participate in and appreciate the arts, to contribute meaningfully to the work program that sustains the school community and the farm on which it is located, to engage in vigorous athletics, and to develop a social consciousness and world view that will provide the foundation for life-long moral and intellectual growth.
What it reported doing in 2024
The putney school provides an educational program for approximately 165 boarding and 61 day high school students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.
- 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: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.5%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 78.2%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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: 88%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.79; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 69.5% of revenue deployed · 78.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 25 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $360K · 30 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.8M reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.