Cuso International
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 300545486
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario, CA
- Phone
- 6138297445
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $18,471,550
- Expenses
- $17,919,573
- Assets
- $11,653,948
- Liabilities
- $4,199,411
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- NICOLAS MOYER (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- NICOLAS MOYER (CEO): $167,310 total reported compensation
- Cory Leblanc (COO): $121,356 total reported compensation
- Yvette Macabuag (Director Program Impact): $100,573 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cuso is a not-for-profit international development organization that works to create economic and social opportunities for marginalized groups. Together with its partners, civil society organizations, governments, multilateral agencies and the private sector, Cuso focuses on efforts to advance gender equality and social inclusion, improve economic resilience, and deliver progress on climate action. Since 1961, the organization has mobilized thousands of skilled volunteers who work alongside partners to maximize their impact and build capacity.
What it reported doing in 2025
Talents Pluriels - GAC
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 72% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 46
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $14.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $922K reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.