Teaching for Change
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521616482
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2025887205
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Affairs, Foreign Policy, & Globalization
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,228,887
- Expenses
- $1,378,478
- Assets
- $1,724,226
- Liabilities
- $77,415
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DEBORAH MENKART (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- NAKEESHA CERAN (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $87,885 total reported compensation
- DEBORAH MENKART (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $84,494 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Teaching for change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world. This is accomplished through various initiatives including social justice books, civil rights teaching, teach central america, zinn education project (with rethinking schools), and dc area educators for social justice.
What it reported doing in 2024
Social justice books - our social justice books project vets and promotes social justice books for children and adults in response to the wide diversity gap in children's books and the publishing industry. Our lists of recommended books and critical book reviews (from trusted organizations and our own staff) are available to teachers and parents at the website socialjusticebooks.org. We offer more than 100 booklists on a variety of themes, a database of critical reviews, and recommended articles on multicultural children's literature and critical literacy. In addition to screening books, teaching for change has been involved in a number of efforts to have books edited. While not primarily involved in resale, bookshop.org offers a percentage of its revenue from any books sold via our dedicated store on their platform. We also receive donations to sustain the book vetting and promotion.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 86% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.2%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 67%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $303.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -12.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.2% of revenue deployed · 67% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $923K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.