Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061824467
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
7153039896
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$638,380
Expenses
$623,922
Assets
$206,626
Liabilities
$19,216

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SANDY WHISLER (PRESIDENT)
  • JIM SHAW (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HEATHER DUBOIS BOURENANE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER DUBOIS BOURENANE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $138,037 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Wisconsin alliance for excellent schools, inc. Is a diverse statewide coalition that is committed to ensuring high quality public education in Wisconsin.

What it reported doing in 2024

Campaigns and projects: trained at budget action workshops, held events, attended hearings and listening sessions with governor.local leadership development: held regular meetings, trainings and workshops to support grassroots public education advocacy teams, held annual summit convening leaders, advocates, experts and allies.community education: maintained year round education and policy updates for our mailing lists, members of grassroots teams, and school district, network partners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.7% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $458K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $138K · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.