Talk Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
233064295
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Newtown Square, PA, USA
Phone
6106565566
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,696,965
Expenses
$2,436,396
Assets
$4,197,553
Liabilities
$2,643,122

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA RUSSELL (DIRECTOR OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY): $109,447 total reported compensation
  • MELINDA KOTLER (SECRETARY): $79,253 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 talk school, is the nation's most progressive center for the education of children with autism and speech/language disorders. As teachers, therapists and researchers we are at the forefront of a new, more accurate and person centered understanding of autism. One that presents autism as a sensory based movement disorder profoundly affecting language, social interaction and praxis. While the scientific literature is just beginning to reflect this view, the talk school has always recognized that sensory and movement difficulties are at the foundation of autism and other language disorders. As a consequence, talk school provides intensive occupational and speech therapy to support a full day systematic, multisensory, language based curriculum including all academics.

What it reported doing in 2024

The talk school provides full day immersion in a language based, fully integrated therapeutic and academic program. In addition, talk provides unique therapies to its students and on an outpatient basis including language evaluations and therapeutic intervention for the treatment of childhood apraxia of speech, phonological disorders and language disorders. In addition, talk's occupational therapists offer occupational therapy based in sensory integration, motor learning/motor development, and emotional relational approaches. The interactive metronome, a brain based assessment and training program developed to improve processing abilities that affect attention, motor planning, timing and sequencing; therasuit, which provides proprioceptive input to muscles and joints. The talk school expanded its license under the Pennsylvania department of education to include tutoring. We are licensed to offer tutoring in both early literacy and emerging and developing literacy, including phonological awareness, sound symbol association, syllable instruction, comprehension skills, synthetic and analytic instruction and multisensory instruction.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 66
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $66.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.7% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.