The Partnership for Excellence
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 341882492
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2009
- Location
- Columbus, OH, United States
- Phone
- 614-425-7157
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $214,743
- Expenses
- $235,697
- Assets
- $665,183
- Liabilities
- $1,018
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARGOT HOFFMAN (PRESIDENT &)
Highest reported compensation
- MARGOT HOFFMAN (PRESIDENT &): $150,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Partnership for Excellence (TPE) helps organizations in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Illinois, and Western Pennsylvania unlock their full potential through Baldrige-based assessments, leadership development, and a proven framework for continuous improvement. TPE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded through corporate sponsorships, individual contributions, and membership fees, with all donations tax-deductible and no government funding. How We Do It TPE educates organizations in performance excellence management. Using the Baldrige Excellence Framework, we provide expert evaluations, actionable feedback, and learning opportunities to drive continuous improvement. Organizational learning, with support from state role-model organizations in every sector Sustainable success Sustaining the Organization.
What it reported doing in 2025
We support organizational performance excellence and continuous improvement by: raising awareness on the importance of performance excellence to strengthen our economy and competitiveness in the global marketplace to create jobs, improve healthcare, higher quality education and more efficient and effective government and non-profit organizations. Providing organizational assessment, evaluation, and quality tools. Educating and sharing best-in-class practices with leaders from all sectors of the economy. Recognizing role-model organizations with tpe's awards for excellence culminating with the platinum-level, governor's award for excellence. Once organizations achieve the platinum-level of recognition they are eligible to submit an application for the malcolm baldrige national quality award presented by the president of the united states.
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 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 54
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 81
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 66.3%; rating input score 66
- Program expense ratio: 52.2%; rating input score 52
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 63.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 66.3% of revenue deployed · 52.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $123K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 20 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.