The Steward School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 540914765
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Richmond, Virginia, US
- Phone
- 804.740.3394
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $25,783,835
- Expenses
- $25,548,803
- Assets
- $30,520,420
- Liabilities
- $9,275,366
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- G DANIEL FRANK (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- G DANIEL FRANK (PRESIDENT): $404,917 total reported compensation
- LISA DWELLE (ASSOC. HEAD OF SCHOOL): $193,766 total reported compensation
- REBECCA GROVES (DIRECTOR OF LOWER SCHOOL): $161,000 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 Steward School provides a challenging, college-preparatory education in a diverse, inclusive community that fosters intellectual curiosity, integrity, and a sense of responsibility.
What it reported doing in 2024
The steward school provides auxiliary programs to benefit our school community. These programs include after school care, enrichment series, and instructional support.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 96
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th 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: 0.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $20.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $405K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.