Telos Classical Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873800742
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Park City, UT, USA
Phone
4352004669
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,125,508
Expenses
$1,008,526
Assets
$477,976
Liabilities
$139,891

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE BATHGATE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN GOERS (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $124,831 total reported compensation
  • STEPHANIE MURRAY (LIFETIME TRUSTEE): $7,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to develop students lifelong habit of moral and intellectual virtue with the aim of growing in knowledge and love of god and neighbor

What it reported doing in 2024

During the fiscal year, the organization had the following accomplishments: 1. Growing enrollment for the program and fiscal stability through increased enrollment from 54 to 67 students. 2. Approved and started the process for school accreditation through society of classical learning and middle states. 3. Start a donor assessment around a multi-million dollar capital campaign aimed at building or acquiring a new school campus/building targeted for fy28-29.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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 - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 79.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $829K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.