Ross Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010880911
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-T 2023
Location
East Hampton, NY, USA
Phone
6319075102
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,211,999
Expenses
$30,222,087
Assets
$53,604,772
Liabilities
$22,424,606

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicole Ross Eloff (President)
  • Ali Pratt (Trustee, PA President)
  • Ann Stewart (Trustee, PA President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Thomas Sturtevant (Head of School): $563,437 total reported compensation
  • Valerie Vlacancich (CFO): $218,680 total reported compensation
  • Mark Frankel (Head of Upper School): $216,545 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to change the way education meets the future; to foster interdisciplinary, integrated thinking and innovative leadership; to engage fully in the global community; and to facilitate lifelong learning.

What it reported doing in 2023

The Tennis Center is open to the public after school hours. There are a variety of different programs and services offered - clinics, classes, court rentals, tournaments, mixers, match plays, summer camps and lessons. The Tennis Academy program (RSTA) runs during the week and is a small, intimate program that allows players to develop lasting relationships with coaches while receiving personalized instruction. Athletes who attend RSTA receive high-performance tennis training while following a stimulating college preparatory curriculum with their peers during the school year. Adult classes run in the morning and about 80 adults enroll per session. After school programs range from ages 5-15 and about 110 kids are enrolled in this program. Court rentals are offered on the weekends with about 100 clients regularly booking court rentals. Lessons are offered after school and on the weekends with ages ranging from 3-70. Ross has about 180 clients regularly booking lessons. Junior tournaments and match plays are offered on the weekends for ages 8-18 and about 200 kids normally sign up for tournaments. The summer camp is held from June - August for ages 5-16 with about 300 kids enrolled.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: -30.2%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $27.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $563K · 28 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.