River Valley Waldorf School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232704723
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Upper Black Eddy, PA, USA
Phone
6109825606
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,995,898
Expenses
$2,402,823
Assets
$4,440,828
Liabilities
$1,059,632

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELLE BERRONG (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MOLLY WATSON (BD OF TRUSTE): $55,918 total reported compensation
  • MELODY BIRDSONG-SHUBERT (BD OF TRUSTE): $46,268 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the organization is to create, nurture, and maintain a healthy, thriving, and afforfable school for it's community and children. The organization was founded upon rudolf stiener's waldorf philosophy; to encourage and maintain a high degree of personal integrity, responsibility, and spiritual awareness in all interactions of our organization; and to be committed participants in our own educational process by providing opportunities for enhanced learning and personal growth for ourselves and our community.

What it reported doing in 2023

A preschool education (nursery-kindergarten) and elementary grade education program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.85; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.8% of revenue deployed · 73.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.