Tree of Life Tallahassee

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814477962
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Tallahassee, FL, USA
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$258,155
Expenses
$255,738
Assets
$68,819
Liabilities
$52,634

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSHUA LESSARD (PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTINE HUFF (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • APRIL LESSARD (TREASURER AND ADMINISTRATOR): $25,539 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To meet a students need for emotional, social, spiritual, physical, and academic development thru multi-age classrooms that focus on students making continuous progress regardless of a students age, grade level, or ability.

What it reported doing in 2018

We started the year with about 35 students and have grown to a school of 50 students. We have a very diverse teaching staff and student body. We have many gifted students, students with special needs, and many students from low socio-economic backgrounds. We love teaching each student and believe strongly in our commitment to serve them and their families by sharing the word of messiah jesus.

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 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 51
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.1%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 82% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 88.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 72.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $256K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $26K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2017 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.