The Seed Foundation

What it reported doing in 2024

Seed's college transition & success (cts) program is dedicated to supporting seed school graduates in their transition to college and seed's overall commitment to preparing students for success in college beyond. To amplify the impact of seed's educational program model, cts prioritizes: (1) delivering high quality college transition advising and programming, (2) leading college knowledge capacity building across seed schools, (3) supporting the understanding and usage of college success data, and(4) expanding seed's college success expertise via our college matching technology solution. As a result of the work of the cts program, best practices and resources such as the college access & success guide, college outreach visits to all seed graduates, and the required elements of seed's college knowledge & advising pillar have been core to executing seed's mission. Most notably, seed's attention to the key indicators of college degree attainment and consistent engagement with seed graduates has resulted in the development of an evidence-based college matching tier system. Seed students who begin their college journey at "right fit" institutions based on our college matching tier system are earning college degrees at rates of nearly 68% which is more than 5 times greater than the national average for low income, first generation african american and latino students. With more than 1,000 students currently enrolled at seed schools and 1,100 seed graduates across the country, the cts program remains committed to delivering high quality advising, programming, and capacity building services. Moreover, as k-12 and postsecondary education evolves across the country, we are actively refining and strengthening our college success efforts via data analysis, direct services, partnerships, and training.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: -69.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 20.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings