Think Together
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 330781751
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Santa Ana, CA, USA
- Phone
- 714.543.3807
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Student Services, Organizations of Students
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $235,174,604
- Expenses
- $232,568,019
- Assets
- $61,905,166
- Liabilities
- $37,474,763
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
34 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- D RANDALL BARTH (CEO & FOUNDER)
- PAUL GOTHOLD (PRES-PRESIDENT, LEADERSHIP FOR SUCCESS)
Highest reported compensation
- D RANDALL BARTH (CEO & FOUNDER): $796,875 total reported compensation
- TIA DWYER (COO): $510,000 total reported compensation
- MARIA REICHEL (CHIEF OF GROWTH STRATEGY): $382,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Think Together provides high-quality expanded learning programs to support students and provides leaders with professional development and staffing services that are focused on student achievement. Our mission is to partner with schools to change the odds for kids What started in 1994 in one small community on Shalimar Drive in Costa Mesa, has grown into a statewide organization that supports over 180,000 students annually from the Bay Area to the San Diego. Think Together became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1997. Think Together’s name was designed as an acronym, standing for Teaching, Helping, Inspiring and Nurturing Kids Together. What started in 1994 in one small community on Shalimar Drive in Costa Mesa, has grown into a statewide organization that supports over 180,000 students annually from the Bay Area to the San Diego. Think...
What it reported doing in 2024
Think together provides two kinds of services: direct services to students afterschool and on non-school days (spring break and summer) and early learning for 0-5 year olds. Think together also provides systems solutions for k-12 public school districts including: staffing, data-driven school improvement and leadership training and coaching. Think together provides these services across 51 school districts and 17 charter school organizations and serves more than 210,000 students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - 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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 47th 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: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.61; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 86% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $202.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $797K · 34 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $13.7M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
- 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 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.