TRU

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471411854
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
6504693656
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,152,785
Expenses
$1,086,993
Assets
$1,472,661
Liabilities
$664,737

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nikunj Somaiya (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • THEODORE TIMPSON (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $136,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The educational program of Tru is organized into a three-year cycle of conceptual themes: Beginning, Living, and Becoming. The theme brings focus and clarity to all the activity of school. Every activity can relate to broad lifelong goals: understanding, personal growth, competency, and achievement. The theme is further divided into three year-long projects that explore the theme in concrete ways. The projects often overlap and mingle together. As the number of connections proliferates, students come to experience thinking and learning as systemic processes.

What it reported doing in 2024

Tru is a private elementary school with after-school program enrolled 36 students in kindergarten-5th grade during the 2024/25 school year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.7%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 73.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $797K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.