Sphinx Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473487919
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lexington, KY, USA
Phone
8592935350
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$464,773
Expenses
$394,268
Assets
$142,207
Liabilities
$15,108

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jennifer Lincoln (Director of Education): $109,230 total reported compensation
  • Arlo Barnette (Instructor): $90,000 total reported compensation
  • Wafaa Elghoroury (Curriculum Dir/Instructor): $88,462 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Non-profit educational facility serving grades 9 through 12

What it reported doing in 2024

Providing secondary level education required for obtaining a high school diploma according to the State of KY certification guidelines.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 94% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.1%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 125.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.1% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $293K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.