Tools of the Mind
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 832864497
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Shirley, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6177588857
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,937,795
- Expenses
- $5,471,174
- Assets
- $6,560,030
- Liabilities
- $480,267
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DEBORAH LEONG (CO-FOUNDER/PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- BARBARA WILDER-SMITH (SECRETARY/ EXEC DIR.): $204,483 total reported compensation
- OLIVER SAUNDERS WILDER (DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY): $191,017 total reported compensation
- DEBORAH LEONG (CO-FOUNDER/PRESIDENT): $189,968 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To help all children learn and develop to their full potential by applying developmental theory-based principles of learning to early childhood education.
What it reported doing in 2024
Tools of the mind is a research-based early childhood model combining teacher professional development with a comprehensive innovative curriculum that helps young children to develop the cognitive, social-emotional, self-regulatory, and foundational academic skills they need to succeed in school and beyond. Tools of the mind is designed to support the development of all young children. Tools currently serves over 49,000 children in prek and k classrooms that run the gamut from small rural school districts, to large urban districts; from charter schools to publicly funded programs. Tools of the mind gives teachers the tools to ensure every child becomes a successful learner, developing the underlying cognitive, social and emotional skills needed to reach his or her highest potential.
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 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
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: Missing
- 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th 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: 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -38.9%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 91.7% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $204K · 12 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $104K reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.