Spirit Series Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203799463
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- 3108995528
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Printing, Publishing
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $964,575
- Expenses
- $899,561
- Assets
- $1,081,545
- Liabilities
- $200,923
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- RICHARD STRAUSS (Executive Dir.): $71,250 total reported compensation
- LESLIE RACHEL STRAUSS (Secretary): $25,425 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 provide core literacy and values education to pre-teens and adolescents in public and charter schools.
What it reported doing in 2024
FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4A, PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SPIRIT SERIES --a suite of history, language arts, positive values & character-building programs--served 3,004 4th to 11th grade students in 120 classrooms at 47 partner schools in California, Arizona, South Dakota and Maine during the 2024-25 school yeara 2% increase over 2023-24. Our drama-based program, SpiritSeries, delivered during regular school hours by Series staff and classroom teachers, served 2,167 students in grades 4 to 8. An additional 5,850 students and adults in these school communities also benefited by attending SpiritSeries play performances and summary discussions. SpiritCorps, our narrative writing, video storytelling and self-discovery curriculum for grades 7 to 11, was delivered online to 837 students. The organization's capacity was increased by $152,528 of in-kind services, including one hour of mentoring per student from 42 trained adult volunteer SpiritCorps Story Coaches.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 88% 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.
- 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 80
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: 6.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $716K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.