Quest Leadership Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462653346
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Greenville, SC, USA
Phone
8642777575
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Leadership Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,967,181
Expenses
$2,999,927
Assets
$891,271
Liabilities
$306,878

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • KAREN HAMES (BOARD MEMBER)
  • BRENDA HUMBERT (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROBERT N JENKINS SR (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Quest leadership academy public charter school is established to provide a solid, core based educational program and develop exceptional learners and leadership scholars who achieve their highest potential.

What it reported doing in 2018

Provided education for approximately 198 students grades k-4 through grade 5.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.1%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.2% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2015 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.