Sparkwheel Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
481175467
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lawrence, KS, USA
Phone
7858565190
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,179,076
Expenses
$7,194,616
Assets
$2,852,109
Liabilities
$488,723

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MALISSA MARTIN (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MALISSA MARTIN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $175,488 total reported compensation
  • BOBBIE JO RAY (CFO): $152,635 total reported compensation
  • KELLY STANFORD (CHIEF PROG OFFICER): $139,701 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 remove barriers and provide those we serve with tools and resources they need to thrive, now and into the future.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our 2024-25 impact: during the 2024-25 school year, we served schools with a combined enrollment of over 31,500 students. Through our school-wide support programs, we distributed more than 250,000 essential needs items, including food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, bus passes, and referrals to community resources (including crisis intervention support). Our family engagement activities reached over 8,000 family and household members, strengthening the connection between home and school. Students participated in over 30,000 instances of enrichment activities, while life skills were shared over 20,000 times. Beyond school-wide supports, we provided targeted, individual services to 3,067 caseload students, resulting in over 33,000 individual goal-related supports. Outcomes for these students include: 99% remained enrolled in school 99% were promoted to the next grade level 96% of seniors graduated 53% of graduating seniors pursued post-secondary education or military servicecaseload students with specific individual goals achieved the following: 91% improved in academics 78% improved in attendance 86% improved in behavior 96% improved in life skills 97% improved in early childhood milestones 95% improved in our post-secondary programsin our post-secondary programs, 90% of caseload students were retained or graduated from their enrolled institutions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 63% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $175K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.