Thinking Nation Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850606371
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Northridge, CA, USA
Phone
8184974579
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,461,070
Expenses
$1,470,845
Assets
$579,349
Liabilities
$25,253

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DINAH RUCH (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • ZACHARY COTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH CONNOLLY (CHIEF PARTNERSHIP OFFICER): $152,036 total reported compensation
  • ZACHARY COTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,892 total reported compensation
  • SPENSER MIX (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $114,783 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Thinking nation is dedicated to cultivating a thinking citizenry by empowering middle and high school students with the skills to think historically and engage civically. We partner with schools and districts across the united states to provide a supplemental social studies curriculum, professional development for educators, and ai-powered assessments that give students immediate, standards-aligned feedback on their writing.

What it reported doing in 2024

Providing document-based curriculum that allows students to practice interdisciplinary reading, writing, and analysis skills necessary for success in all subjects. Our curriculum can be administered online or in pdf format allowing for both virtual and classroom instruction. Teachers are given critical time back when utilizing grading services provided by our expert graders. Thinking nation delivered over 200 hours of teacher-centered professional learning and empowered over 35,000 students in thinking nation classrooms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.3%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.3% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $152K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $330K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.