Tamarack Discovery School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 834684941
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2020
- Forms available
- Form 990 2020
- Location
- Iowa City, IA, USA
- Rating
- 49
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $95,956
- Expenses
- $75,406
- Assets
- $26,070
- Liabilities
- $5,520
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAWN NEFF (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- JONATHAN CHAMBERS (BOARD MEMBER)
- KATIE CHRISTIANSEN (OFFICIER)
- LIANNA CORNALLY (VICE PRESIDE)
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 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide high quality education services to children
What it reported doing in 2020
Education services
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 16
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 16.3%; rating input score 16
- Program expense ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 21
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- 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: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 21.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 16.3% of revenue deployed · 20.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $16K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 16/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 21/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.