CORE Tanzania

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814338205
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Seattle, WA, United States
Phone
206-398-9014
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$336,435
Expenses
$232,537
Assets
$567,985
Liabilities
$98

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Banobi (President)
  • Lisa Ondrejcek (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Michael Banobi (President)
  • Lisa Ondrejcek (Vice President)
  • Mariko Kakiuchi (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

CORE Tanzania’s mission is to increase access to quality education in rural Tanzania. Our first step in carrying out our mission is to construct and operate a new school, Twegashe Primary School, in the village of Bushasha in northwestern Tanzania. Twegashe translates as “Let’s make our lives meaningful,” reflecting our belief that all children have a right to a quality education that will allow them to make their own lives meaningful. _**Twegashe Primary School** provides children with a strong academic foundation, helping them develop into curious learners and creative, critical thinkers._ Some of our other goals for Twegashe Primary School include:.

What it reported doing in 2025

CORE is working to bring high quality education to rural Tanzania. We provide grants to Twegashe Integral Development (TID), a Tanzanian NGO, whose current major program is to construct and operate Twegashe Primary School in Bushasha Village, Tanzania. In January 2025, we welcomed 30 pre-kindergartners to Twegashe, bringing current enrolment to 208 students in grades pre-K through grade 5. In 2025, CORE continued construction of staff housing, having completed construction of all the school buildings in 2024. School facilities now include seven classrooms, cafeteria, kitchen, library, administrative offices, staffroom, and eight staff duplexes. CORE also continues to fund school operations and to build a scholarship reserve for Twegashe graduates. CORE is committed to high quality education. Our school program emphasizes community engagement, strong academics, and a focus on the whole child. Classroom instruction is in English so students will be successful in secondary school. We provide a nutritious breakfast and lunch for children, with fruits and vegetables from our school garden. We are committed to environmental sustainability. (continued on Schedule O)

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 99% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.1%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: $809.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 81st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 30.9%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.44; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 70.1% of revenue deployed · 99.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $232K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.