The Enrollment Management Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
066011774
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Skillman, NJ, USA
Phone
6096835558
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,374,477
Expenses
$18,349,189
Assets
$14,958,856
Liabilities
$4,506,810

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HEATHER HOERLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO)
  • MICHAEL FLANAGAN (CEO AS OF 5/12/25)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER HOERLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO): $598,942 total reported compensation
  • DAVID G AYNEJIAN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $335,300 total reported compensation
  • KEITH WRIGHT (VP PSYCHOMETRICS AND ASSESSMENT): $313,431 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 enrollment management association, inc. (ema) provides unparalleled leadership and service in meeting the admission assessment and enrollment needs of schools, students, and families. Continued on schedule o.ema fulfills its mission by allocating resources to services which sustain and support these stakeholder groups. For member schools, ema provides high quality admission and assessment tools and resources, professional training, information and research, and collegial support; regionally, nationally, and internationally. For students and their families, ema offers effective test preparation, guidance, and testing and application resources to support the independent private school admission process. Ema works with both schools and families to ensure the best possible match, because when great schools enroll great students, everything is possible.

What it reported doing in 2024

Testing activities: the wide variability nature of academic programs and standards that exist within school programs limits the opportunities to compare basic academic ability of applicants to other schools or programs. The ssat is intended to provide a common measure for evaluating the abilities of students seeking admission to private schools, from whatever background or experience, and to assess the possible success of these students. Designed to enhance access to private and independent schools for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, ema provides fee waivers each year to thousands of students whom our member schools determine to be eligible. Continued on schedule o.these fee waivers allow students to take the ssat, use the ema practice portal, and apply to private schools. The aggregate amount of these fee waivers for june 2025 was $ 838,694. A comprehensive student web site ensures that students and families can access information on all aspects of the ssat, including test preparation, test structure and composition, score interpretation, and online test registration. Schools are provided with the information and training they need to properly administer the ssat and to assess student scores. The character skills snapshot was developed to provide schools with a reliable assessment of student character skills development for admission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 0.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.4% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $13.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $599K · 28 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.