Spencer Educational Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581420617
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126556208
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,256,856
Expenses
$4,715,343
Assets
$9,880,646
Liabilities
$504,118

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY COHEN (PRESIDENT)
  • BOB THOMAS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MEGAN MILLER (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEGAN MILLER (CEO): $440,306 total reported compensation
  • KENNETH GOLDSTEIN (UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS DI): $210,937 total reported compensation
  • TANDEKA NOMVETE (EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT DIRECT): $122,969 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To facilitate the funding of tomorrow's risk management and insurance leaders through scholarships, grants, internship opportunities, on and off campus experiential learning, and support of risk management curricula.

What it reported doing in 2025

Course development - spencer's course development grant program supports introductory risk management and insurance course development - for universities that have not previously offered any such instruction - as well as proposals for additional course curriculum development and program development - for universities looking to develop a rmi program and/or expand existing rmi course offerings, with an emphasis on new and emerging areas in the industry.during 2025, spencer awarded 17 course development grants. Risk manager on campus grants - for 25 years, spencer's risk manager on campus (rmoc) program has been praised by both universities and risk managers as a rewarding educational experience for students and a chance to give back to the profession. The program brings a practicing risk manager to the university to present and engage with students about the risk management profession and insurance industry.during 2025, spencer awarded 70 risk manager on campus grant student risk management challenge - the spencer-rims student risk challenge is an international student competition in which students showcase their research skills and apply their risk management knowledge to real-life scenario. The competition requires university/college teams comprising of four students to develop and present a comprehensive risk management report based on a case study. A judging committee evaluates the teams' solutions, and the top eight teams are invited to present their strategies at the annual rims riskworld conference.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 70% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 43rd 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: 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: 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: -10.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.1; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $440K · 33 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 125 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 122 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.