The Thacher School

Legal name: The Thacher School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951642398
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Ojai, California, USA
Phone
805-646-4377
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$60,773,804
Expenses
$59,364,347
Assets
$318,841,293
Liabilities
$31,053,087

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeff Hooper (HOS): $632,141 total reported compensation
  • Jeff Berndt (Director of Advancement): $580,418 total reported compensation
  • Jim Poulsen (DFO/Assist Trea): $406,874 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Thacher's mission is to inspire students to become thoughtful, responsible, and engaged citizens of the world through a challenging academic program, a commitment to character development, and a deep connection to the natural world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Regular Education Program: The philosophy of The Thacher School is rooted in the wisdom and work of its founder, Sherman Day Thacher, who embraced the extraordinary natural venue of his school and sought above all else to train his students in the art of living for their own greatest good and for the good of their fellow citizens. He believed the most worthwhile education combined a vigorous academic life with rugged outdoor activities that engendered self-reliance, concern for others, and fidelity to four principles: honor, fairness, kindness, and truth. The Thacher School recently unveiled a newly transformed Observatory and with the expertise of staff will facilitate educational pathways in astronomy, computer science, robotics and engineering.

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 82% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.8%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 48.6%; rating input score 49
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.37; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 49.8% of revenue deployed · 48.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $28.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $632K · 34 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.2M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.