Christel House International
Legal name: Christel House International Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 352051932
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Phone
- 317-464-2030
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- International Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $28,764,652
- Expenses
- $23,485,516
- Assets
- $95,205,544
- Liabilities
- $7,469,865
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BARTON PETERSON (CEO THROUGH 8/31, DIRECTOR)
- DAVID HARRIS (PRESIDENT AND CEO FROM 9/1)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID HARRIS (PRESIDENT AND CEO FROM 9/1): $554,291 total reported compensation
- MORTON BALLEN (SENIOR VP GLOBAL ACADEMICS): $398,976 total reported compensation
- VANDANA KAPUR (SR VP, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $311,607 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To break the cycle of poverty by providing children with a strong education and the necessary supports to succeed.
What it reported doing in 2024
Community outreach: the christel house schools, funded and overseen by christel house and operated by its affiliated entities, are nonresidential and their students return home each evening. Students learn that they have an obligation to give back and make the world a better place. Christel house believes that by remaining connected to their roots, students will be in a better position to make a positive impact on their communities. Christel house's affiliates partner with families to co-create student success and provides them with the support to achieve personal and economic goals. Parent engagement programming builds community, parent ownership, platforms to capture parents' input, and fosters parent-to-parent relationships.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.5%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th 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: 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; 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: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 27th 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: 18.4%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.05; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 7 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 71.5% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $18.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $554K · 27 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 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: 13 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.