The Rudolf Steiner School Association of Ann Arbor
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 382242069
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Phone
- 7346699394
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Primary, Elementary Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,087,746
- Expenses
- $7,759,208
- Assets
- $10,246,444
- Liabilities
- $2,981,457
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ELIZABETH HEAD (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- BRIAN VROOM (FINANCE MANA): $97,441 total reported compensation
- KNUT HILL (SCHOOL ADMIN): $93,927 total reported compensation
- GARY BANKS (TRUSTEE): $65,464 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 school's main objective is to provide a complete waldorf education for children, preschool through twelfth grade. In addition, before-care, after-care and summer day camps are provided.
What it reported doing in 2024
General instruction - a contemporary, classical prek-12 education. Early childhood develops social and organizational skills for lifelong learning. Gr 1-8 engages students in discovery through curriculum that seamlessly integrates academics and fine arts with teachers who spend eight full years with their class. Gr 9-12 develop moral, intellectual and aesthetic capacity through focused inquiry in seminar-style classes taught by specialists. The school offers students the opportunity to experience a foreign culture directly through exchange programs with other waldorf schools abroad. Our school values its international population and strives to both educate and learn from our diverse student population, blending cultures educationally, socially, and artistically into our program.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.7%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 63.6%; rating input score 64; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.7% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $6.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $97K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.