Committee On Sustainability Assessment

What it reported doing in 2024

Cosa facilitates the collective impact of institutions dedicated to accelerating rural prosperity & agricultural sustainability in the world's poorest countries. Driven by the conviction that reliable data enables better decision-making & greater accountability, we develop & share pragmatic indicators & solutions to better measure & manage sustainability. Creating a "public square" for alignment of purpose & understanding serves everyone equally. The cosa network is an incubator of lessons that catalyze fact-based decision-making to improve sustainability programs in food & agriculture. We collaborate with a diverse set of partners from research institutes & development agencies to private companies & foundations - in order to build local capacity in many countries & among tens of thousands of farmers. Our core work is four pronged: 1) design - cosa works together with partners & local communities to design & implement sustainability assessments that address the important challenges that they face. By working through local organizations cosa improves their practices, ensures local relevance, & helps them conform to international standards of best practices so that they can know the actual impacts or long term sustainability of diverse types of projects or investments in rural communities. 2) measure - we apply a consistent, standardized approach which ensures comparability, provides clarity, & reduces costs. Cosa trains & supports local entities or institutions with tools & services to conduct the hands-on fieldwork & assessments themselves. This ensures the capacity building that is necessary for long term adoption of sound monitoring and assessment practices. Evidence-based scientific methods form the core of the work. 3) manage - for sustainability practices to be cost-effective requires that entities have the right information at the right time. Cosa tools & technologies help to improve management choices so that organizations can quickly apply the most sustainable practices that reduce environmental & economic vulnerability among farm communities. 4) share & disseminate - cosa advances a community of learning by making information & lessons available to farmers, rural organizations & the sustainability assessment community as a whole. This service is especially valuable in low resource countries where, for the first time, governments, companies, ngos, farmers, & researchers (the community) have a mutual & transparent way to share their understanding & advance the best economic, social, & environmental practices.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
• Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $61.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
  • 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: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 22.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings