Ancient Ways
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 931158030
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Scio, OR, USA
- Phone
- 5412588710
- Rating
- 95
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Folk Arts
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $72,748
- Expenses
- $73,138
- Assets
- $57,252
- Liabilities
- $532
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAN SIX (President)
- HELEN SIX (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- JAIAEN BECK (Executive Dir.)
- DEBBY VAJDA (Secretary)
- MELISSA CHAMBERLIN BIHUN (BOARD MEMBER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Helping Indigenous People to Help Themselves
What it reported doing in 2025
Over 2000 rural zimbabweans assisted during economic hardship including HIV/AIDS workshops and increasing health education, sponsoring children's schools fees, and developing a preschool and library. A youth self-being program has been expanded to reach more children and provide services in collaboration with girl guides international. Free medical care is beign provided to rural villagers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.5%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 35.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $73K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.