Cognia INC FY2020 filing

Tax-deductible

Alpharetta, GA501(c)(3)Since 2006EducationEIN 20-8613765Revenue $121.2M in FY2020

On file with the IRScognia.org9115 Westside Pkwy, 30009-8000 · Alpharetta, GATax-exempt since Jul 2007Publicly supported — 509(a)(2)

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Cognia, INC is dedicated to leading and empowering the education community to ensure that all learners realize their full potential while creating a world of opportunities for every learner. We drive excellence in education through continuous improvement services, assessment, accreditation, research, innovation policy and technology.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
86¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$5.4M paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2020 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average deficit $395K a year · under 1% of revenue · last 6 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
86%
of spending
Looks good: 86% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$5.4M
to officers and key staff · 4% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 4% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
2 mo
of spending, in cash
Fine: 2.4 months of spending in cash; 1 to 3.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $75K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$62.9M
66% of total assets
Worth a look: liabilities are 66% of assets; over 65%.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
0
of 13 voting members
Concern: none of 13 voting members are independent.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$121.2M
Spent
$120.6M
To programs
86%
Net assets
$33.0M
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$121.2M
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$121.2M
FY2021$111.1M
FY2022$115.5M
FY2023$124.3M
FY2024$135.8M
FY2025$140.4M
Expenses
$120.6M
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$120.6M
FY2021$113.8M
FY2022$127.2M
FY2023$136.4M
FY2024$126.5M
FY2025$126.2M
Net assets
$33.0M
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$33.0M
FY2021$31.2M
FY2022$18.6M
FY2023$31.2M
FY2024$40.9M
FY2025$53.1M

From the FY2020 Form 990 (year ending June 2020) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jul 2007.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

86 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 86% · $103.1M Management & general 14% · $17.5M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

28 people listed on the 990; $5.4M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2019); the FY2020 filing did not itemize Part VII
President/CEO
$924,850Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Legal Officer
$418,958Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Innov Officer&board Memb
$384,647Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Assessment Officer
$380,180Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Financial Officer
$311,006Pt VII · Sec A
SR. Advisor Measurement Solut
$303,161Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Operations Officer
$299,712Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Technology Officer
$281,879Pt VII · Sec A

Dr Mark a Elgart’s $1.3M as President/CEO is at the 83rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Dr Mark a Elgart$1,302,785$1,013,237$1,030,064$997,350$990,105$924,850
Kenneth I Bergman$479,930$442,187$423,086$426,098$434,788$418,958
Stephen Murphy$83,039$381,705$390,268$370,551$372,964$380,180
Mr Martin Borg———$130,091$260,463$384,647
Angela Hilliard$330,736$309,827$311,964$266,528$257,121$258,488
Dr Annette Bohling$234,332$328,990$322,565$281,279$279,040$259,662
Channa Williams$328,179$272,125————
Stephen Ferrara——$326,580$316,086$307,624$303,161

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.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Improves education through services, assessment, accreditation, research, and innovation.

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Provided by the organization

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2 programs · $103.1M · in their own filed words · FY2019
01

Cognia provides large-scale, special population and targeted educational assessment services and products to various state and local educational systems in the United States.

$65.9Mprogram expense
02

Cognia, inc develops and applies research based accreditation and school improvement standards, processes, procedures, expertise and tools that cross state, regional, and international boundaries in order to effect continuous school improvement through ongoing external checks, support and feedback.

$37.2Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2023
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$75K

By the numbers

The FY2020 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$121.2M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$111.3M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$9.8M
Investment incomeLn 3$136K
Money outPt IX
$120.6M
Ln 25
Programscol B$103.1M
Managementcol C$17.5M
Owns and owesPt X
$33.0M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$23.8M
Total assetsLn 16$95.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$62.9M
PeoplePt VI, VII
28
listed · VII A
PaidVII A28
Voting boardVI 1a13
IndependentVI 1b0
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$9.8M
Government grantsLn 1e$9.8M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$111.3M
Investment incomeLn 3$136K
Other incomeLn 4–11$14K
Gains on assetsLn 7$0
Total revenueLn 12$121.2M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$13.5M
SavingsLn 2$10.3M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$23.8M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$8.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$29.5M
Other assetsLn 15$5.6M
Total assetsLn 16$95.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$62.9M
Net assetsLn 32$33.0M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5521
VolunteersI 618,000
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY20End FY20
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$17.0M$23.8M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$12.2M$8.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$20.9M$29.5M
Total assetsLn 16$98.3M$95.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$66.1M$62.9M
Net assetsLn 32$32.2M$33.0M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$2K$2K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$4K$4K
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$6.0M$5.2M$776K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$36.8M$32.1M$4.8M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$4.6M$4.0M$591K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$6.8M$5.9M$872K
Payroll taxesLn 10$3.0M$2.6M$383K
Management feesLn 11a$0
Legal feesLn 11b$365K$365K
Accounting feesLn 11c$314K$314K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$34.0M$30.0M$4.0M
Advertising and promotionLn 12$1.1M$755K$321K
Office expensesLn 13$2.0M$1.5M$483K
Information technologyLn 14$3.9M$3.7M$179K
RoyaltiesLn 15$0
OccupancyLn 16$5.3M$4.2M$1.1M
TravelLn 17$5.9M$4.8M$1.1M
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$0
InterestLn 20$1.3M$1.1M$267K
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$7.9M$6.3M$1.6M
InsuranceLn 23$403K$323K$81K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$937K$565K$372K
Total functional expensesLn 25$120.6M$103.1M$17.5M$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest $140.4M$126.2M$14.3M$53.1M 990 PDF
FY2024 $135.8M$126.5M$9.3M$40.9M 990 PDF
FY2023 $124.3M$136.4M−$12.1M$31.2M 990 PDF
FY2022 $115.5M$127.2M−$11.7M$18.6M 990 PDF
FY2021 $111.1M$113.8M−$2.7M$31.2M 990 PDF
FY2020 Viewing $121.2M$120.6M$628K$33.0M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $121,196,667 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $25,000$9,774,008
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $88,410,849$111,272,245
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $290,669$136,014
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $14,734$14,400
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $88,741,252$121,196,667
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $7,300$6,100
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $40,556,277$57,165,202
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $54,173,584$63,396,954
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $94,737,161$120,568,256
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$5,995,909$628,411
Part VI · Governance 0 of 13 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body13
VI-1b Independent voting members0
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $121,196,667 across 9 lines filed
VIII-1e Government grants$9,774,008
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$9,774,008
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $111,272,245$111,272,245
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $136,014$136,014
VIII-5 Royalties$0
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossRelated to mission $14,400$14,400
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assets$0
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$0
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $111,286,645 · Excluded from tax $136,014$121,196,667
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $120,568,256 across 30 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizations$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $1,600$1,600
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $4,500$4,500
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $5,237,425 · Management $776,055$6,013,480
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $32,089,746 · Management $4,754,893$36,844,639
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $3,985,909 · Management $590,611$4,576,520
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $5,888,105 · Management $872,469$6,760,574
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $2,586,704 · Management $383,285$2,969,989
IX-11a Management fees$0
IX-11b Legal feesManagement $365,345$365,345
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $314,089$314,089
IX-11d Lobbying fees$0
IX-11e Professional fundraising fees$0
IX-11f Investment management fees$0
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $29,954,558 · Management $4,011,506$33,966,064
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $754,645 · Management $321,222$1,075,867
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $1,501,720 · Management $483,297$1,985,017
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $3,747,543 · Management $179,402$3,926,945
IX-15 Royalties$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $4,204,844 · Management $1,051,211$5,256,055
IX-17 TravelPrograms $4,847,030 · Management $1,064,699$5,911,729
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetings$0
IX-20 InterestPrograms $1,069,569 · Management $267,392$1,336,961
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $6,335,067 · Management $1,583,767$7,918,834
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $322,691 · Management $80,673$403,364
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $564,596 · Management $372,088$936,684
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $103,096,252 · Management $17,472,004 · Fundraising $0$120,568,256
Part X · Balance sheet $95,874,021 assets, 24 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $16,596,333$13,496,845
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $435,754$10,281,432
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $0$0
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $20,390,728$11,316,514
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $0$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $1,478,158$1,366,575
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $20,875,190$29,503,163
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $9,618,057$5,661,322
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $2,611,952$2,611,952
X-13 Program-related investmentsStart of year $0$0
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $20,934,711$16,026,025
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $5,396,146$5,610,193
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $98,337,029$95,874,021
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $15,768,689$7,347,959
X-18 Grants payableStart of year $0$0
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $9,813,063$8,745,054
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $22,756,213$25,934,720
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $0$0
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $11,393,465$13,821,256
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $66,120,396$62,871,423
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $32,216,633$33,002,598
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $0$0
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $32,216,633$33,002,598
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $98,337,029$95,874,021
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $33,002,598 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$121,196,667
XI-2 Total expenses$120,568,256
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$628,411
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$32,216,633
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$157,554
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$33,002,598

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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