Aruna Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471266446
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5133131343
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,414,398
Expenses
$2,146,579
Assets
$1,566,699
Liabilities
$413,173

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RYAN BERG (DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RYAN BERG (DIRECTOR/CEO): $134,016 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Aruna is a nonprofit athleisure brand creating lifelong freedom for victims and survivors of sex trafficking both internationally and domestically. By combining the best of nonprofit direct services and social enterprise solutions, we "free through equipping- and "empower through employing."

What it reported doing in 2024

The outreach centers, situated in some of the highest concentrations of sex trafficking in south asia, serve as the outreach arm into the brothel systems to create a pathway to freedom for sex trafficking victims through daily outreach in the areas of trafficking. The outreach team was able to expand work into additional trafficking areas and provide direct services to thousands of trafficked women and help facilitate freedom to many. Once freed, survivors are invited into the training centers where they receive transitional housing and entrance into the apprenticeship program. The training teams provide trauma counseling and care, life skill training, and soft goods manufacturing training, all in an environment of holistic care supported by aruna's four pillars of holistic care. The training center was able to see an over 50% growth in the survivors served, with 100% job placement for graduates. The work of the outreach teams and training teams combine to "free through equipping". The graduates are employed in somerset exports where they earn a career wage, retirement savings, access to health care and ongoing trauma care. Somerset was able to both increase the number of survivors employed as well as production capacity, launching multiple new products now competing in the us athleisure market. The work of the somerset team "empowers through employment". This is also mirrored in the us team, where us survivors are employed to help in inventory, quality control, order fulfillment and customer engagement. This year we have seen the most women freed, employed, and empowered than any year since aruna's founding.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.1%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.