School of Government Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850992406
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Phone
9199622757
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,452,367
Expenses
$6,882,821
Assets
$3,973,813
Liabilities
$2,980,371

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREN PARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AIMEE N WALL (DEAN SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT): $399,915 total reported compensation
  • CARLY PERIN (DIRECTOR): $340,879 total reported compensation
  • LAUREN PARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $310,507 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 facilitate the work of the unc school of government to improve the lives of north carolinians by engaging in practical scholarship that helps public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government.

What it reported doing in 2024

School of government services will provide administrative services to support the work of the unc school of government. The school of government provides research, scholarship, consulting and instruction to state and local governments, their employees, and other interested individuals to help solve a wide variety of challenges faced in the furtherance of providing services to citizens. The school of government operates with non-partisan and non-advocacy principals. Each year the school reaches over 12,000 local government officials through courses, including over 5,000 paid individual registrations which generate over $3m per year. The school also engages in over 65 new consulting contracts each year generating over $1m per year. In addition to these services the school also provides secretariat services to organizations supporting state, local government and public service employees such as the North Carolina city and county managers association and the consortium of university public service organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 40
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 20%; rating input score 20; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.6%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.58; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.75; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $400K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.