21 Wilberforce Global Freedom Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471435259
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Falls Church, VA, USA
Phone
5712973177
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$474,995
Expenses
$552,973
Assets
$113,991
Liabilities
$45,116

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WISSAM AL-SALIBY (PRESIDENT (AS OF MAY))
  • JOHN GONGWER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • WISSAM AL-SALIBY (PRESIDENT (AS OF MAY)): $159,737 total reported compensation
  • JOHN GONGWER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $128,154 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

21 wilberforce is a christian international human rights nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education, advocacy, and support for the persecuted and defending the fundamental right of all people to freedom of religion and belief.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dedicated to providing education, advocacy, and support for the persecuted and defending the fundamental right of all people to freedom of religion and belief. 21wilberforce helps organizations build capacity for effective action and educate and train individuals to be effective advocates and leaders of transformative change. They convene communications strategy sessions, train partners on how best to collaborate with legislators, shape policy-changing narratives with persecuted people, collaborate on launching new solutions-based initiatives, and provide useful tools and resources. 21wilberforce provides practical, hands-on education, resources, and training in irf advocacy and leadership for activities and decision makers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.4%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -16.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 52.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -11.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.4% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $439K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $160K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.