Upchieve Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824456163
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
6469798755
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,761,492
Expenses
$2,763,644
Assets
$6,085,864
Liabilities
$6,093

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALYSA MURRAY (CHAIR/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALYSA MURRAY (CHAIR/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $201,905 total reported compensation
  • ALEXANDRA LINDSAY (SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER): $172,271 total reported compensation
  • CHRIS SHAW (HEAD OF PRODUCT): $170,837 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 democratize access to academic support so that all students have an equal opportunity to finish high school, attend college, and achieve upward mobility.

What it reported doing in 2024

Online academic support - we provide free, online, and on-demand academic support to low-income students in the us. In 2024, these services included tutoring in math, science, english, and social studies; sat/act prep; and college counseling. In order to deliver these services to students, we 1) build technology to facilitate on-demand academic support sessions between students and volunteers, 2) recruit, train, and certify volunteers to be academic coaches on our platform, and 3) establish partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and companies to bring students and volunteers onto our platform.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

STRONG - 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.2; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 38.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 37.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 86.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $202K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.