Northern Light School

Tax-deductible

Oakland, CA501(c)(3)Since 1989EducationEIN 94-3097690Revenue $4.4M in FY2024

On file with the IRSnorthernlightschool.com3710 Dorisa Ave, 94605-4941 · Oakland, CATax-exempt since Dec 2019School — 170(b)(1)(A)(ii)

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The School is committed to providing a high quality education for children from all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The faculty and staff create an atmosphere where every child can grow academically, emotionally, physically and spiritually to become healthy, productive members of their families and communities. The focus is on academic excellence as well as non-violence, acceptance of differences, respect for the environment, and moral advancement of humanity so that the children develop an understanding that they have a responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
55¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 10 volunteers and 38 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · 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
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $528K a year · 10% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
55%
of spending
Worth a look: 55% of spending went to programs; under 65%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$395K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Top officer’s pay lower than 52% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
<1 mo
of spending, in cash
Concern: 0.3 months of spending in cash; under 2 weeks.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $10K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$766K
14% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 14% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
9
of 9 voting members
Looks good: 9 of 9 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$4.4M
-4% vs prior year
Spent
$5.3M
To programs
55%
Net assets
$4.5M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$4.4M
FY2024▼ -4%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$3.8M
FY2021$5.8M
FY2022$5.9M
FY2023$7.1M
FY2024$4.6M
FY2024$4.4M
Expenses
$5.3M
FY2024▼ -2%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$4.1M
FY2021$4.4M
FY2022$5.5M
FY2023$5.1M
FY2024$5.4M
FY2024$5.3M
Net assets
$4.5M
FY2024▼ -14%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$2.2M
FY2021$3.9M
FY2022$3.8M
FY2023$5.9M
FY2024$5.2M
FY2024$4.5M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Exemption reinstated (2018-11-15). Per the IRS revocation list. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Dec 2019.

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

Where the money goes

55 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 55% · $2.9M Management & general 33% · $1.8M Fundraising 12% · $616K

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

15 people listed on the 990; $395K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Dir. of Students
$122,843Pt VII · Sec A
Dir. of Admissions & Mkt
$117,440Pt VII · Sec A
Front Office Manager
$97,436Pt VII · Sec A
Exec Dir/Acting Hos(8/24-6/25)
$37,500Pt VII · Sec A
Head of School
$19,688Pt VII · Sec A
Chair of Finance(thru 11/2024)
$0Pt VII · Sec A
President (thru 12/24)
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Gov Char/President (eff 12/24)
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Tonya Taylor’s $123K as Dir. of Students is at the 48th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3395 $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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Roy Danovitch——$161,739$164,617—
Genevieve Jackson——$124,105——
Tonya Taylor$122,843$109,014———
Jill Diaz$117,440$110,750———
Erika Molina—$105,832———
Michelle Lewis——$102,426—$87,715
Michelle Lewis-Alegre—$99,564———
Molly Harrington$97,436————

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 Northern Light School executive salaries →

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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

Offers quality education to children from diverse backgrounds.

Provided by the organization

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1 program · $2.9M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Northern light school is a leading independent oakland, ca non profit, preschool through grade 8 organization that provides excellent education to children from across the bay area. At northern light school, we are committed to being a bay area school that builds a school family and is dedicated to offering children an excellent…

$2.9Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

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

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$10K
Grants paid · 4 grants · $5.4M · 2019–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$1,250,185
Unitemized GrantFY2023$1,440,191
Unitemized GrantFY2020$1,406,251
Unitemized GrantFY2019$1,303,686

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$4.4M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$2.6M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.6M
Investment incomeLn 3$228K
Money outPt IX
$5.3M
Ln 25
Programscol B$2.9M
Managementcol C$1.8M
Fundraisingcol D$616K
Owns and owesPt X
$4.5M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$120K
Total assetsLn 16$5.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$766K
PeoplePt VI, VII
15
listed · VII A
PaidVII A5
Voting boardVI 1a9
IndependentVI 1b9
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.6M
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$647K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$2.6M
Investment incomeLn 3$228K
Other incomeLn 4–11$36K
Gains on assetsLn 7$47K
Total revenueLn 12$4.4M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$59K
SavingsLn 2$62K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$120K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$4.0M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$285K
Other assetsLn 15$613K
Total assetsLn 16$5.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$766K
Net assetsLn 32$4.5M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 538
VolunteersI 610
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$116K$120K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$4.6M$4.0M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$252K$285K
Total assetsLn 16$5.4M$5.3M
LiabilitiesLn 26$181K$766K
Net assetsLn 32$5.2M$4.5M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$1.3M$1.3M
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$0
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$90K$18K$54K$18K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$2.0M$405K$1.2M$405K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$20K$4K$12K$4K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$246K$49K$148K$49K
Payroll taxesLn 10$128K$26K$77K$26K
Management feesLn 11a$0
Legal feesLn 11b$104K$80K$13K$10K
Accounting feesLn 11c$90K$90K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$22K$22K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$169K$169K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$5K$5K
Office expensesLn 13$74K$61K$7K$5K
Information technologyLn 14$43K$33K$6K$4K
RoyaltiesLn 15$0
OccupancyLn 16$878K$677K$113K$87K
TravelLn 17$0
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$57K$44K$7K$6K
InterestLn 20$0
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$4K$3K$541$416
InsuranceLn 23$10K$7K$1K$953
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$105K$102K$3K
Total functional expensesLn 25$5.3M$2.9M$1.8M$616K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $4.6M$5.4M−$788K$5.2M 990 PDF
FY2023 $7.1M$5.1M$2.0M$5.9M 990 PDF
FY2022 $5.9M$5.5M$354K$3.8M 990 PDF
FY2021 $5.8M$4.4M$1.4M$3.9M 990 PDF
FY2020 $3.8M$4.1M−$290K$2.2M 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 FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $4,443,399 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,677,043$1,618,325
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $2,701,638$2,561,833
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $221,087$227,689
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $47,758$35,552
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $4,647,526$4,443,399
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $1,440,191$1,250,185
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $2,534,565$2,510,964
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $1,460,348$1,560,532
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $5,435,104$5,321,681
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$787,578−$878,282
Part VI · Governance 9 of 9 board members independent, 3 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body9
VI-1b Independent voting members9
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $4,443,399 across 10 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $4,752 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1c Fundraising events$647,034
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$971,291
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$1,618,325
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $2,561,833$2,561,833
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $180,830$180,830
VIII-5 Royalties$0
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossExcluded from tax $30,800$30,800
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $46,859$46,859
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$0
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $2,561,833 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $258,489$4,443,399
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $5,321,681 across 30 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizations$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $1,250,185$1,250,185
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipients$0
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $18,000 · Management $54,000 · Fundraising $18,000$90,000
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $405,378 · Management $1,216,137 · Fundraising $405,378$2,026,893
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $3,994 · Management $11,981 · Fundraising $3,993$19,968
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $49,279 · Management $147,836 · Fundraising $49,279$246,394
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $25,542 · Management $76,625 · Fundraising $25,542$127,709
IX-11a Management fees$0
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $80,310 · Management $13,468 · Fundraising $10,360$104,138
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $90,290$90,290
IX-11d Lobbying fees$0
IX-11e Professional fundraising fees$0
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $21,529$21,529
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $169,060$169,060
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $5,154$5,154
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $61,048 · Management $7,257 · Fundraising $5,321$73,626
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $32,957 · Management $5,527 · Fundraising $4,251$42,735
IX-15 Royalties$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $676,796 · Management $113,490 · Fundraising $87,302$877,588
IX-17 Travel$0
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $44,157 · Management $7,404 · Fundraising $5,696$57,257
IX-20 Interest$0
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $3,225 · Management $541 · Fundraising $416$4,182
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $7,384 · Management $1,238 · Fundraising $953$9,575
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $102,140 · Management $3,258$105,398
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $2,934,609 · Management $1,770,581 · Fundraising $616,491$5,321,681
Part X · Balance sheet $5,294,868 assets, 24 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $109,701$58,820
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $6,700$61,502
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $0$0
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $210,374$209,809
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $0$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $145,361$35,325
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $252,400$285,227
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $4,635,098$4,031,042
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $0$0
X-13 Program-related investmentsStart of year $0$0
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $0$0
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $66,809$613,143
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $5,426,443$5,294,868
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $142,377$123,208
X-18 Grants payableStart of year $0$0
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $38,973$48,813
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $0$0
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $0$593,824
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $181,350$765,845
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $590,287$364,091
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $4,654,806$4,164,932
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $5,245,093$4,529,023
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $5,426,443$5,294,868
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $4,529,023 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$4,443,399
XI-2 Total expenses$5,321,681
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$878,282
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$5,245,093
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$162,212
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$4,529,023

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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