ScholarCHIPS Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463127898
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026770897
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$438,758
Expenses
$685,101
Assets
$47,228
Liabilities
$35,566

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yasmine Arrington (Founder and Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Yasmine Arrington (Founder and Executive Director): $134,300 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Scholarchips provides college scholarships, mentoring and a peer support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education.

What it reported doing in 2024

ScholarCHIPS awardees receive college funding (I.E. Renewable Scholarships and Book Awards) and brand new laptops, and all of the scholars have the opportunity to benefit from our additional programs, including mentoring, professional development, financial literacy, cultural enrichment, advocacy, public speaking, internship support, emergency support, and a peer support network. Since the programs inception in 2012, the organization has supported 120 scholars, and 54 have graduated from their respective undergraduate studies programs. In December 2023, ScholarCHIPS was recognized as a CNN Hero.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 7
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -56.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.75; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $490K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

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 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.