The Foundation for Leon County Schools Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
592852594
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Tallahassee, FL, USA
Phone
8504877241
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,008,652
Expenses
$848,311
Assets
$691,861
Liabilities
$38,548

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIC CLARK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL 1/31/2025)
  • MARGERET FARRIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS OF 4/7/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIC CLARK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL 1/31/2025): $102,710 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 bring enriching programs and resources to leon county schools through business, individual and community engagement; increased public awareness; and dedicated fundraising. The foundation for leon county schools (foundation) was established in 1986 when forward-thinking business, community, and education leaders came together with a common goal of enhancing educational opportunities and experiences for leon county students in order to deliver a superior education.under the leadership of its volunteer board of directors, the foundation remains focused on enhancing programs that include teacher mini-grants, dropout prevention, scholarships, teachers training, science technology engineering and math(stem) development, and wellness.

What it reported doing in 2024

* generates financial support enhancing educational programs benefitting students and teachers in leon county public schools. * awards classroom grants to increase innovation and inspiration* provides funding to ensure at-risk students graduate from high school and move on to a career or college environment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99%; rating input score 99; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.9%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 93.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $795K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.