The Early Excellence Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852451228
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4129547415
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$972,978
Expenses
$1,032,383
Assets
$625,240
Liabilities
$713,835

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVONNA SHANNON (DIRECTOR): $101,350 total reported compensation
  • LYASHA BISHOP (DIRECTOR): $96,083 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide educational mentoring for the leaders of center-based and home- based childcare centers.

What it reported doing in 2024

To create mentoring and educational relationships, where participants will gain tools to ensure the students enrolled in their individual programs learn from the most up-to-date curriculum, and that the educators they employ have access to the best pedagogical support. Accreditation coaching - each year eep will choose 4 center-based and home-based childcare centers to work with one-on-one to navigate through the keystone star and naeyc accreditation process.

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 96% 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: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.14; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -38.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 36.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.9% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $699K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 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 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.