The Philadelphia Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222567982
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2156651400
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,101,734
Expenses
$5,061,594
Assets
$14,350,614
Liabilities
$884,065

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FARAH JIMENEZ (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • FARAH JIMENEZ (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $222,404 total reported compensation
  • DAVID GARBE (DIRECTOR, MCKINNEY CENTER): $121,655 total reported compensation
  • BRYAN DEFONEY (VP OF PROGRAMS): $121,367 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 mission of the philadelphia education fund (pef) is to create equitable access to opportunities for students by providing resources and expertise that build paths to college and career success. Pef focuses on philadelphia public school students attending schools with low graduation, postsecondary persistence, college enrollment, and college completion rates. Pef fulfills its mission by embedding a college and career going framework in the philadelphia public school system; delivering in person, school based, and virtual supports; aligning secondary and postsecondary instruction; providing scholarship aid; and supporting students, educators, districts, and communities

What it reported doing in 2024

Direct services to students: the goal of pef's direct services to students is to create pathways to college and career by equipping philadelphia public school students with the guidance, preparation, and financial resources needed to pursue postsecondary education. During the reporting period, pef provided college advising, preparatory workshops, standardized test preparation, academic enrichment, and hands on assistance to an estimated 8,000-10,000 students (estimate), in partnership with the school district of philadelphia, higher education institutions, community organizations, and businesses.pef's short term objective is to increase students' college readiness, enrollment, and affordability; its long term objective is to improve postsecondary persistence and completion for students from historically under resourced schools. Through the philadelphia scholars program, pef stewarded an endowment that awarded last dollar, gap filling scholarships to more than 100 students annually and supported recipients through workshops, mentoring, resource sharing, and assistance accessing leveraged third party scholarships. In the reporting year, pef distributed $625,000 in scholarship aid, reducing financial barriers to college enrollment and persistence.

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 81% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 0.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.84; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.6% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $222K · 27 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • 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: 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.