The Pathfinder School INC EIN 20-8457978 Form 990 (PDF) Claim this org

The Pathfinder School INC

Not yet claimed Claim this org →

Fosters intellectual curiosity and a love of learning through educational programs. For fiscal year 2025 it reported $2.6M in revenue, $2.7M in expenses, and $3.3M in net assets.Pt I

Type
Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Education
Location
Traverse City, MI
Website
www.thepathfinderschool.org
Filings
6 on file (2020–2025)
Revenue
$2.6MFY2025
Expenses
$2.7M
Net assets
$3.3M
People
15
Filings
6
Updates
0
More identity details & actions ⌄
EIN  20-8457978 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Traverse City, MI
Form 990 (PDF)
Compare with another nonprofit →
Figures match the IRS filing checked 9/1/26 · see original: IRS
Is this your organization?
Claim this profile to manage it and share your story.
Claim
Provided by the organization

This section is blank until The Pathfinder School INC claims this page.

Know this organization? Claim it to add your story

Size
$1–10M
What they do
Fosters intellectual curiosity and a love of learning through educational programs.
Leadership
Eric Wynn · Head of School · $58K
Money in and out
$2.6M revenue, $2.7M expenses
Bottom line
76% program efficiency
Where the money goes · FY2025
Total revenue
$2.6M
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$2.7M
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$3.3M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$131K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.76 Management & general $0.21 Fundraising $0.03
Program efficiency
76%
of spending reaches programs▼ -8% vs prior filing year
Operating runway
1.6mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate▼ -27% vs prior filing year
Surplus margin
-5%
revenue over expenses, this year▼ -57% vs prior filing year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2025 · Form 990
Revenue
$2.6M
FY2025▲ +4%
Expenses
$2.7M
FY2025▲ +6%
Total assets
$3.9M
FY2025▲ +1%
Total liabilities
$567K
FY2025▲ +47%
Total revenue
$2.6M
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$2.7M
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$3.3M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$131K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$3.9M
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B76%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 313
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 413

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CThe Pathfinder School INC
EINHdr · item D20-8457978
Principal addressHdr · item CTraverse City, MI
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.thepathfinderschool.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MMI
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFEducation (B20)
Ruling yearIRS BMFJul 2007

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a13
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b13
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Head of School
$58,270Pt VII · Sec A
Business Officer
$27,532Pt VII · Sec A
President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Co-Vice President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Co-Vice President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Eric Wynn’s $58K as Head of School is at the 9th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3394 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jill Vigenski$93,397$91,883$81,522$76,916$68,198
Eric Wynn$58,270
Ellen Northway$49,779$46,357$44,150$44,150$44,150
Karline Jensen$27,532

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See The Pathfinder School INC executive salaries →

Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role

Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

1 program service account for $2.0M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

The pathfinder school provides a vigorous experiential learning environment for children in grades pre-k through the eighth grade. Pathfinder also hosts an outdoor summer day camp. Pathfinder's program is distinguished by strong meaningful connections between teachers, students and parents, by a supportive learning environment that…

$2.0Mprogram expense

Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Program service revenue$1.9M · 75%
Contributions & grants$556K · 22%
Other revenue$72K · 3%
Program service revenue75%$1.9M
Contributions & grants22%$556K
Other revenue3%$72K
Investment income$2K
— government grantsLn 1e$189K
Total revenueLn 12$2.6M

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.76 Management & general $0.21 Fundraising $0.03
Program services76%$2.0M
Management & general21%$571K
Fundraising3%$87K
Total functional expensesLn 25$2.7M

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$306K
Total assetsLn 16$3.9M
Total liabilitiesLn 26$567K
Total net assetsLn 32$3.3M
Months of cash on handcomputed1.4

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2025 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $350K · Operating expenses (Pt IX) $2.7M · Less non-cash grants $55K · Cash operating expenses/yr $2.6M
1.6 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $2.0M · Total expenses $2.7M
76%
Management & General
Management & general $571K · Total expenses $2.7M
21%
Fundraising
Fundraising $87K · Total expenses $2.7M
3%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $80K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $349K
$0.23 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $556K · Total revenue $2.6M
22%
Government reliance
Government grants $189K · Total revenue $2.6M
7%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $1.9M · Total revenue $2.6M
75%
Investment reliance
Investment income $2K · Total revenue $2.6M
+0.07%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $1.9M · Total expenses $2.7M
72%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $2.6M · Prior year $2.5M
+4%
Revenue CAGR
FY2019 $2.0M · FY2024 $2.6M
+5%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $3.3M · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $2.6M · Expenses $2.7M
-5%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $3.9M
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $3.3M · Total assets $3.9M
85%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) $44K · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $3.9M
1%
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Eric Wynn · Reported title HEAD OF SCHOOL · Highest reported compensation $58K · Total expenses $2.7M
2%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $1.7M · Total expenses $2.7M
64%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 76%
Overhead ratio 21%
Fundraising cost ratio 16%
Revenue growth 4%
Accounting fee ratio 0.4%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$1K
Grants paid · 6 grants · $2.6M · 2019–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$483,665
Unitemized GrantFY2023$520,473
Unitemized GrantFY2022$518,988
Unitemized GrantFY2021$387,089
Unitemized GrantFY2020$330,608
Unitemized GrantFY2019$335,497

Similar Organizations

Closest in mission — by what they do
See all organizations like The Pathfinder School INC →

Compare

Search another nonprofit to view revenue, expenses, assets, key metrics, and leaders side by side

Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$2.6M revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$2.5M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$2.8M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$2.7M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$1.8M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$2.0M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2025IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context

Made it to the end? Claim this organization

Keep this kind of thing free
Keep public charity data easy to read.

Free to the public, because obviously. Like this? Pay it forward. Don't like this? Help us get better.

Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through Stripe. One time.

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the peer-cohort and compensation comparisons above.