Tri-county Scholarship Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222354475
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Mendham, NJ, USA
Phone
9739849600
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,968,215
Expenses
$4,782,461
Assets
$15,098,870
Liabilities
$1,746,453

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

58 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PRUDENCE A PIGOTT (PRESIDENT, EX-OFFICIO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PRUDENCE A PIGOTT (PRESIDENT, EX-OFFICIO): $333,921 total reported compensation
  • MIKE MUND (OFFICE MANAGER): $202,813 total reported compensation
  • ANNEMARIE HOCHKEPPEL (MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER): $137,223 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Tri-county scholarship fund provides k-12 scholarships to deserving and financially disadvantaged children in northern New Jersey so they can obtain a high quality, values-based education at accredited private elementary and secondary schools that will enable them to achieve their full potential.

What it reported doing in 2025

Since 1981, the mission of tri-county scholarship fund has been to provide financial support to deserving and economically disadvantaged children in grades kindergarten through 12, for them to attend accredited private schools. Partial scholarships are awarded annually to hundreds of students. A tri-county scholarship represents a partnership between the school that also discounts its tuition, and the family who pay the balance of the tuition. Kindergarten - 8th grade tri-county scholarships are $2,250. High school scholarships are for $4,000- $5,000. In 2025, tri-county scholarship fund awarded 973 scholarships.tri-county scholarship recipient families have an average annual income of $30,000. The majority are from the inner-city, and many are single-parent households. Tri-county scholarship students attend approximately 60 different values-based private schools in northern New Jersey. Typically, 100% of tri-county students graduate from high school, go on to college, and become independent, contributing members of society.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.3%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.16; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.1%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.3% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 55 of 55 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $334K · 58 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.