Accion International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
132535763
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2023935113
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,763,541
Expenses
$33,127,519
Assets
$310,500,603
Liabilities
$6,712,645

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL SCHLEIN (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL SCHLEIN (CEO): $755,344 total reported compensation
  • ESTEBAN ALTSCHUL (COO (THRU 04/30/24)): $719,465 total reported compensation
  • LIVINGSTON PARSONS III (CFO (THRU 09/30/24)): $613,334 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to create a fair and inclusive economy where underserved people have quality financial choices and opportunities to improve their economic well-being. We find and help build innovative companies with the potential to reach large numbers of underserved people and accelerate their growth. We work with our partners to design, test, and deploy affordable digital solutions that strengthen clients' financial health and economic well-being. We conduct in-depth research and share our learnings to advance responsible financial solutions and systems.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oglobal programs: today, 1.6 billion people are left out of or poorly served by the world's formal financial sector and lack the financial solutions they need to end poverty in their communities. Accion is a global nonprofit committed to creating a fair and inclusive economy, helping families and businesses reach their economic potential and build better lives. Our global programs include accion advisory, a team of experts that helps companies provide innovative and affordable financial solutions to small businesses and hard-to-reach customers in emerging markets. It connects local ecosystem actors, harnessing philanthropic capital and the latest technologies to test, improve, and scale responsible financial solutions that enable small business owners and their families to improve their economic well-being. In 2024, accion advisory used its deep technical expertise, local insights, and industry connections to develop market-led solutions for hard-to-reach customers, focusing on areas where it can add maximum value to transform the lives of underserved people globally: digital transformation, embedded finance, women's economic empowerment, agri-finance, and alternative data.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -39.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.37; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $22M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $755K · 32 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.