BBB Wise Giving Report for
Teach for America

BBB Wise Giving Report issued May 2012
BBB Wise Giving Report expires May 2014


Does not meet one or more standards
This charity does not meet one or more of the 20 standards for Charity Accountability. Find out more...


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Charity Contact Information

Name: Teach for America
Address: 315 West 36th Street, 7th Floor
  New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-279-2080
Web Address: www.teachforamerica.org
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BBB Wise Giving Alliance Comments

Year, State Incorporated: 1990, Connecticut
Affiliates: Teach for All
Stated Purpose: "to build the movement to eliminate educational inequality by enlisting our nation's most promising leaders in that effort."

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Evaluation Conclusions

               

Teach for America does not meet the following 3 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Standard 1: Oversight of Operations and Staff - Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO's performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.

Teach for America does not meet this Standard because its board of directors does not:

  • Receive information about the financial arrangements made with outside fund raising firm(s) and/or consultant(s) hired in the past year.

Standard 6: Board Policy on Effectiveness - Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

Teach for America does not meet this Standard because:

  • The board of directors does not have a written policy stating that, at least every two years, an appraisal be done assessing the organization’s performance and effectiveness and determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

Standard 16: Annual Report - Have an annual report available to all, on request, that includes: (a) the organization's mission statement, (b) a summary of the past year's program service accomplishments, (c) a roster of the officers and members of the board of directors, (d) financial information that includes (i) total income in the past fiscal year, (ii) expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and (iii) ending net assets.

Teach for America does not meet this standard because the 2010 annual report did not include:

  • A roster of the board of directors
  • Total income.
  • Total program expenses.
  • Total expenses for each program in the same categories that appear in the organization’s financial statements.
  • Total fund raising expenses.
  • Total administrative expenses.
  • Total end of year net assets.
In addition, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance requested but did not receive complete information on the organization’s solicitation materials and fundraising disclosures and is unable to verify the organization's compliance with the following 2 Standards for Charity Accountability: 15 and 19.
Teach for America meets the remaining 15 Standards for Charity Accountability.
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Programs

               

Teach for America recruits graduates of all academic majors from campuses across the country, selects “corp members” through an application process, trains them in a pre-service institute, places them in schools as regular beginning teachers, coordinates an ongoing support network among them, and builds a network among its alumni to foster their wangling leadership and collaboration. For incoming corp members, the organization conducts summer training institutes held on university campuses and in connection with local public school districts. Teach for America aims to foster the leadership of alumni as a force for social change. The organization produces two alumni magazines. The alumni career and leadership center guides alumni through their career by assessing their skills, talents and interests, assisting alumni in exploring careers and learning how to leverage their experiences to best position themselves to transition into the field and connect them to resources to be successful in securing a job.

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, Teach for America's program expenses were:

  
Placement, professional development, education awards and other 77,767,615
Pre service institute 29,164,662
Teacher recruitment and selection 25,202,393
Alumni Affairs 13,512,240
Total Program Expenses: $145,646,910
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Governance

               

Chief Executive : Wendy Kopp, Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Compensation*:
 $375,626

Chair of the Board: Walter Isaacson
Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation: President and CEO, The Aspen Institute

Board Size: 34

Paid Staff Size: 1581

*October 1, 2009 - September 30, 2010 compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.
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Fund Raising

               

Method(s) Used:

Direct mail, telemarketing, special events, grant proposals, Internet appeals, and cause-related marketing.
Fund raising costs were 11% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $147,802,396, are donations received as a result of fund raising activities.)
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Tax Status

               

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.
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Financial

               

The following information is based on Teach for America's audited financial statements - consolidated with affiliate for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Source of Funds  
Contributions 143,071,198
Government grants and contracts 45,655,217
Fee for service 18,232,410
Special events, net 3,767,251
Net appreciation in fair value of investments 1,968,208
Licensing fees and other revenue 1,949,307
Contributed goods and services 963,947
Interest and dividend income, net 187,698
Total Income $215,795,236


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Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

Programs: 82%  Fund Raising: 9%  Administrative: 9% 

Total income   $215,795,236
  Program expenses $145,646,910
  Fund raising expenses 16,084,535
  Administrative expenses 15,677,273
 
Total expenses   $177,408,718
Income in Excess of Expenses   38,386,518
Beginning net assets   261,456,922
Ending net assets   299,843,440
Total liabilities   38,119,026
Total assets   $337,962,466

Note: According to Teach for America's audit for the year ended September 30, 2010, the organization received $1,978,144 of contributed goods and services, including professional fees ($1,087,528), legal ($347,007), software ($279,000), computers and equipment ($169,636), event services ($51,201), facilities ($20,931), other ($18,500), and supplies ($4,341).

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An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

This report is not to be used for fund raising or promotional purposes.

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