Stair of Birmingham
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203541638
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Birmingham, AL, USA
- Phone
- 2057307799
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $736,115
- Expenses
- $741,215
- Assets
- $328,179
- Liabilities
- $1,118
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LEDON JONES (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- SARAH WHEELER (PRESIDENT)
- CHRISTIN FRENCH (PRESIDENT ELECT)
- KAREN GRINER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
Highest reported compensation
- KAREN GRINER (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $85,389 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's exempt purpose is to provide educational assistanceto birmingham city schools' children through an after school readingprogram.
What it reported doing in 2024
The stair program assists first through fourth grade students enrolled in birmingham schools to improve their reading skills. Stair is a primarily after school program using around 300 volunteer tutors/ who teach one-on-one reading lessons to at-risk children. Children are chosen by their teachers in the current tax year. There were 13 sites throughout birmingham, plus a satellite program in gadsden, that served 187 students. Students met tutors twice per week for two hours during september through april. Students are taught a variety of skills necessary to read at grade level. Students who completed the stair program consistently show an average rate of improvement of 40% in phonics skills, a key predictor of long-term reading success. Stair provided over 6,000 tutoring sessions and distributed 2,400 books to students. Students had an average attendance rate of 85% during the year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.6%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 70.1%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70.6% of revenue deployed · 70.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $520K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 25/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.