Hope

Legal name: The Hope School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
370768616
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Springfield, IL, USA
Phone
217-585-5437
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$34,241,799
Expenses
$31,920,532
Assets
$26,095,800
Liabilities
$3,913,140

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLINT PAUL (CEO & PRESIDENT)
  • AMANDA BROTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / COO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CLINT PAUL (CEO & PRESIDENT): $447,963 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA BROTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / COO): $206,284 total reported compensation
  • STEVE HELM (CFO): $180,744 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Supporting individuals and families in achieving optimum growth, independence, and joy. Vision Statement:. and History The year was 1957 when The Hope School opened its doors in a modest house in Springfield. Hope’s founders, Dr. and Mrs. Charles E. Jordan, had searched the world for a place to educate their daughter who had multiple disabilities. They wanted Judith Ann to have the chance to reach her full potential, but no school in the United States could serve her. So, the Jordans created a school. They created Hope. The Jordan’s had a vision and took action. The Hope School brought hope to many families who were also searching for community services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hope learning academy: springfield/edwardsville provides specialized educational services for children and youth with autism and other developmental disabilities. Established in 1957, the academy offers individualized instruction, therapeutic supports, and transition services designed to help students develop academic, social, and life skills. Programs include therapeutic education, community-integrated classrooms, and vocational training through the hope vocational academy, which prepares students for employment and greater independence through job skills training and community work opportunities.the hope therapeutic day academy (htda), established in 2004 and located within hope learning academy in springfield, provides a therapeutic, evidence-based educational program for students in grades k-8 who experience emotional and behavioral challenges related to mental health concerns. Licensed therapists and educators work collaboratively with families and referring school districts to support students' academic, social, and emotional development and to help transition students back to their home school environments when appropriate.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 17th 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: 6.8%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 88.5% of revenue deployed · 95% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $30.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $448K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.