Children of Armenia Fund Inc Dba Children of Armenia Fund Coaf

Overview

Mission

COAFs goal is to empower the younger generation of Armenians living in the country's impoverished and neglected rural villages.While COAF's work is all-encompassing, the emphasis is on education. The organizations work combines infrastructure projects schools, medical clinics, health posts, community centers, athletic facilities with world class educational, socioeconomic, health care, and community programs. The objective is to enable young Armenians to define and build their own future with guidance provided by COAF.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since 2004, the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) has improved living conditions in Armenias underserved rural areas, including educational and social advancements in 60+ communities across 6 regions, making a lasting impact on the lives of 107,000+ Armenians. Revitalizing Armenia begins with strengthening education and broadening the opportunities of the nations children, ensuring a forward-thinking, globally competitive citizenry. This understanding propelled the creation of the COAF SMART initiative, a comprehensive and replicable educational model. In 2018, COAF inaugurated its flagship SMART Center in the Lori region. An innovative educational facility, the SMART Center offers 2,000+ rural children and youth from 28 communities access to essential educational resources and after-school programs. In 2021, we expanded our focus. Forming unprecedented institutional, private sector, and NGO partnerships, we took significant strides to further our programmatic work throughout Armenia. The opening of our Child and Family Services Center in Hatsik village marked a new era of our approach to rural health. We extended our network of SMART initiatives in the Lori region with new SMART Village infrastructure, designed to spur social and economic progress in 27 rural communities. During our "Home Is Calling" virtual gala, we garnered record-setting support to build SMART Centers across Armenia, starting with the Armavir Smart Center, with construction beginning in 2022. COAF supporters reached out from across the globe to offer their talents and resources to the rural Armenian community, ensuring continued advancement for Armenia's children during even these difficult times. As we look ahead, our commitment to Armenia remains steadfast and strengthened by that of our community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
113579187
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129948234
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,287,520
Expenses
$14,504,288
Assets
$15,975,300
Liabilities
$147,871

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 49
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.4%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.4% of revenue deployed · 95.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 13 annual filings from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

People named in this filing

  • GARO H ARMEN PHD (Chairman)
  • DR ALICE SARAYDARIAN (SECRETARY/TREAS)
  • JOHN SARAYDARIAN (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.