Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510548106
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173540002
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,566,546
Expenses
$3,157,003
Assets
$3,171,665
Liabilities
$487,746

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHAD D'ENTREMONT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHAD D'ENTREMONT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $255,444 total reported compensation
  • LAURA CINELLI (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $148,625 total reported compensation
  • ANNELISE BUZAID (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH): $130,170 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To develop a public agenda that promotes significant improvement of public education in Massachusetts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Discourse: the rennie center is committed to engaging diverse perspectives and voices in a constructive policy discussion. By convening conferences, forums, meetings, policy briefings, panel discussions, town meetings and other events, the rennie center promotes constructive dialogue on school improvement and student achievement and seeks to minimize polarized, partisan communication and to promote an invigorated, inclusive policy debate with diverse stakeholder participation.

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.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th 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: -23%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $255K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $574K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.