Carnegie International Students Institute Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844167262
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4123134232
Rating
48
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,606,634
Expenses
$593,797
Assets
$1,617,534
Liabilities
$11,146

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PENGXUAN CHEN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BO AI (OFFICER): $99,360 total reported compensation
  • DINAN ZHAO (OFFICER): $46,560 total reported compensation
  • MINGXIN YU (EMPLOYEE): $14,631 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CISI is committed to helping international students better in Study, work and live in the United States.

What it reported doing in 2024

IS Culture: IS Culture program builds cultural bridges by supporting Chinese language and culture abroad. Through its Mother Tongue initiative, CISI partners with local schools and community groups to create richer environments for learning and maintaining Chinese (Mandarin) among immigrant families. CISI also funds Chinese music education in partnership with the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, promoting Chinese traditional/folk music and training young performers to share these instruments and sounds with wider audiences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. 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: 19
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 12.6%; rating input score 13
  • Program expense ratio: 34.1%; rating input score 34
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 63%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.72; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 86.8% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 76.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 65.1% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 12.6% of revenue deployed · 34.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $203K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 7 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $19K reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.