The Schools Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581955411
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Huntsville, AL, USA
Phone
2565352080
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$630,960
Expenses
$511,985
Assets
$1,080,148
Liabilities
$3,301

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY BETH WILSON (PRESIDENT)
  • TARON THORPE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JEANNE GREER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEANNE GREER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $70,350 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 Foundation serves as an education advocate and provides a central voice for strategic engagement on issues relating to education which impact our schools. We interact with local and state leaders and education stakeholders, while serving as a vehicle for individuals and businesses to support public education in Madison County.

What it reported doing in 2024

Nbct - raise your hand is a bold initiative to have the nation's highest concentration of national board certified teachers, or nbcts, in our huntsville city, madison city, and madison county school systems. National board certification is the most respected professional certification available in k-12 education. The initiative is a partnership of the creative cities fund, the philanthropic arm of the huntsville committee of 100, and the schools foundation. The $1 million goal will fund 500 new nbcts in five years across the three school systems in madison county.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.6%; rating input score 98; 45th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.9%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $408K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 46 of 47 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.