Steppingstone Center for the Potentially Gifted

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382377598
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Plymouth, MI, USA
Phone
2489578200
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$275,682
Expenses
$268,290
Assets
$276,583
Liabilities
$983,794

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELLE BELT (President)
  • CHRISTOPHER ISBERG (Vice President)
  • DONNA COFFIN (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • MICHELLE BELT (President)
  • CHRISTOPHER ISBERG (Vice President)
  • DONNA COFFIN (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

At steppingstone school, we are committed to the development of the whole child by providing an environment that supports the academic, intellectual, social, physical, and emotional growth of gifted learners.

What it reported doing in 2024

Violin performance and teaching violin with a minor in teaching piano; alsoprepare students for competition and testing in solo and ensemble and the nationalfederation of music clubs (nfmc) as well as participation in music recitals.western martial arts spelling and reading), however, are instructed in even smaller(one to six students) ability groups. This allows teachers maximum flexibility toaccommodate each student's academic needs while ensuring that students are nurturedsocially and emotionally with their age-related form 990, part iii, line 4b, program service accomplishments: this martial arts class teaches studentshistorical european traditions of self defense. Students ages ten through fourteenhave fun learning techniques against targets and using them in padded sparring.students also work together in group games and activities, building focus, confidence, teamwork and awareness. All activities use trainingequipment whichprovides a safe, fun and effective way of learning. Instructor has 15 yearsexperience with both western martial arts and instructing children. Smart centerthe steppingstone magnetic resonance training (smart) center's purpose is to bringa research-based science experience to young, science-oriented students in order tomeet our mission of "exciting the next generation of scientists". It offers middleschool, high school and junior college students the opportunity to engage inresearch experiences that are usually only available to college students. Studentswill utilize a $200,000 magnetic resonance spectrometer (epr), develop a hypothesisto test, design an experimental protocol to test the hypothesis, conductexperiments using an epr spectrometer, learn to analyze the data, and to reach aconclusion.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.7%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.56; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -22.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.6% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $189K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.