The Great Schools Partnership Charitable Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
766206166
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8652154501
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,432,553
Expenses
$4,057,257
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS LETSOS (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE WELCH (FORMER PRESI): $190,966 total reported compensation
  • STEPHANIE JINKINS (CFO): $172,287 total reported compensation
  • CHERYL BALL (VICE PRESIDE): $161,653 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To serve as a catalyst, think tank, incubator, start-up funder and operational partner for making knox county schools globally competitive.

What it reported doing in 2019

Project grad knoxville is an initiative of the knox education foundation. In partnership with knox county schools and the communities served, project grad knoxville impacts generational change through education. Taking a k-16 (elementary through postsecondary) approach, the program focuses on college/career access and success; social services support; family, neighborhood & community engagement; intentional support for students from disadvantaged circumstances; and scholars in 14 urban schools in knoxville. The work of pgk targets: 1) increased k12 knowledge of postsecondary options, access, and pathways; 2) increased high school graduation rate; and 3) increased higher education enrollment and completion rate.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 66% for direct work, and 34% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.9% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $209K reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2013 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.