School for Esoteric Studies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131832805
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Asheville, NC, USA
Phone
8282254272
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$150,630
Expenses
$107,823
Assets
$1,420,931
Liabilities
$5,831

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gail Jolley (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Gail Jolley (Executive Director): $30,090 total reported compensation
  • Miguel Malagreca (Outreach): $10,000 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 train people in the Ageless Wisdom teachings and practice.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public Awareness Outreach: We produced 12 monthly group letters in three languages (English, Spanish, Italian) that are circulated among our membership and others within the spiritual community. We also sent out two free Newsletters in 2024, which were distributed to the entire School membership and also upon request. In 2024 these newsletters were sent to 1,921 members and subscribers. We translated materials into other languages to reach a wider audience and to serve our membership. Our Facebook page reached 5,100 followers. Our Instagram page had 241 followers and we put up 60 posts in 2024. We created three new videos on YouTube, which now has 28 videos, 627 subscribers, and had 27,592 views in 2024. We posted two new articles and one new booklet on our website - in three languages. We continued to maintain and update our website with relevant information in three languages. In 2024 we responded to 88 miscellaneous requests from the public and sent out bookmarks, booklets, leaflets and brochures about the School in three languages. We continued to provide materials in three languages for those interested in participating in our Cleansing Initiative; 96 individuals are currently taking part in this. We also created a new initiative on Climate Cleansing and Renewal and invited members and interested parties to join us in this. We provided a free monthly conference in Turin, Italy, and also participated in a variety of collaborative initiatives with other spiritual groups.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.18; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.8% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $72K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.