Brighter Children
Legal name: Brighter Children Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 462334621
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, US
- Phone
- 6319353348
- Rating
- 60
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $600,582
- Expenses
- $582,898
- Assets
- $614,146
- Liabilities
- $285,173
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KATHERINE WALES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- KATHERINE WALES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT): $157,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We invest in education entrepreneurs who are shaping and scaling schools in the world’s most impoverished communities to deliver quality primary education to vulnerable children.
What it reported doing in 2024
See schedule o.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 79% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 38
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 40.6%; rating input score 41
- Program expense ratio: 41.9%; rating input score 42
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 27%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 40.6% of revenue deployed · 41.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $244K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $158K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.