Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 2017.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
81 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
7 people listed on the 990; $45K paid to officers and key staff (Part VII, Section A).
Mary Grams’s $42K as Treasurer, Board Member, Head of School, & Teacher is at the 33rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 1613 $100K–1M 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joan Pingel | — | $58,947 | $53,604 | $51,734 | $51,400 | $51,400 |
| Mary Grams | $42,000 | $35,367 | $32,162 | $31,040 | $30,840 | $30,840 |
| David Zimmel | $3,300 | — | — | — | — | — |
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 Praise Academy executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Programs and updates
Educates children with a Christ-centered approach, fostering productive, employable, and active community members.
Questions for Praise Academy
Your first name shows with your question. Praise Academy answers here, for everyone.
Praise Academy at Lakeside provided a Christ-centered elementary education to 21 students in grades PK-6 during the 2024-2025 school year. The school serves a low-income, predominantly African American community.
Form 990 Part III, line 4, FY2024. The organization’s own words, as filed with the IRS. Find it at the IRS (EIN 81-3602868) · Dispute this linePraise Camp, a two-week summer camp for neighborhood children ages 5 to 13, was held in the Allendale neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana and in Evansville, Indiana. In all, 95 kids came to at least one day of camp in either Evansville or Allendale.
Form 990 Part III, line 4, FY2024. The organization’s own words, as filed with the IRS. Find it at the IRS (EIN 81-3602868) · Dispute this lineFunders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $244K | $196K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $447K | $430K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $92K | $152K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $786K | $790K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $15K | $15K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $770K | $775K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $3K | $3K | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4 | $0 | |||
| Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Ln 5 | $42K | $38K | $4K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $236K | $199K | $7K | $29K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $21K | $18K | $873 | $2K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $1K | $1K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $2K | $2K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $13K | $12K | $608 | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $26K | $26K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $22K | $19K | $3K | $0 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $4K | $4K | ||
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $0 | |||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $39K | $38K | $709 | |
| TravelLn 17 | $3K | $1K | $2K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4K | $4K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $11K | $11K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $55K | $54K | $734 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $482K | $391K | $33K | $57K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS May 8, 2026 | $463K | $482K | −$19K | $775K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS May 7, 2025 | $435K | $564K | −$129K | $770K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS May 13, 2024 | $680K | $473K | $207K | $881K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Feb 13, 2023 | $668K | $576K | $92K | $667K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS May 6, 2022 | $828K | $580K | $247K | $575K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS May 3, 2021 | $565K | $513K | $52K | $328K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990
Part I · Summary $462,712 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 5 of 7 board members independent, 3 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $462,712 across 12 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $481,666 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $790,178 assets, 25 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $775,130 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file FY2025 from the IRS (about our sources) · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
The names, titles, and financial information shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records. More
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. A filing can only be corrected by the organization filing an amended return with the IRS; the corrected information appears here at our next update.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing, and less than the filing contains. Our pages do not display home 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, contact the filing organization or the IRS directly.