Reading Team Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 134125884
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2122802042
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Children's, Youth Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $704,322
- Expenses
- $877,808
- Assets
- $417,407
- Liabilities
- $210,452
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- CHARON DARRIS (EXECUTIVE DI): $160,009 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 reading team runs two early literacy programs: (1) preschool - 2x/week (2-hrs/session) teachers instruct 3 and 4 year old children on phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and sound manipulation. (2) after-school - 5x/week (2.5-hrs/session) teachers instruct children in grades k-5 on phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, literary devices, and writing.
What it reported doing in 2024
The reading team preschool program is an intensive and multifaceted early literacy intervention that serves children from neighborhood day care centers and head start programs. This program enables the children we serve to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to reading and writing. It is administered by trained, paid teaching staff called literacy coaches. The reading team after-school program serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade who typically are referred to us by their teachers because they are struggling to keep up in the classroom and sometimes because they have classroom behavior problems as well. The reading team engages the children in a wide range of literacy-nurturing activities that enable them to make significant gains in reading ability their first year in the program. More than 80% of reading team children have historically passed the New York state english language arts exam given starting in 3rd grade (on average in harlem, only 30% of children pass this exam)the after-school program is administered by trained, paid teachers known as literacy coaches. The reading team parent programs help parents make better academic decisions and life choices for their children. Our elementary school advisory program advises and supports parents as they make important decisions about their children's schooling and a series of parent conversations teaches parents some simple and positive things they can do to support their children's developing literacy.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% 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.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.9%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: -24.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.9% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $697K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $160K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.