Vermont Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030179600
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Saxtons River, VT, USA
Phone
8028696200
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Reported finances

Revenue
$19,374,809
Expenses
$21,391,609
Assets
$19,844,143
Liabilities
$5,580,367

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER ZACCARA (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $266,601 total reported compensation
  • VINCENT SCHUCK (CFO/COO): $195,130 total reported compensation
  • BENJAMIN GARDNER (DIRECTOR OF VAMS): $143,163 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 provide a supportive community and close personal attention to its students. Vermont academy develops confident, active learners and respectful citizens.

What it reported doing in 2024

Vermont academy is a private boarding and day school providing a broad curriculum and an extensive athletic program. Programs of note are found in the center for learnings, the arts, and in our science and engineering curriculum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.4%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 86.3%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.4% of revenue deployed · 86.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $18.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $267K · 29 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.