Develop Africa
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203836551
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Johnson City, TN, USA
- Phone
- 4232820006
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $398,120
- Expenses
- $400,487
- Assets
- $29,692
- Liabilities
- $21,667
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sylvester Renner (President/Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Sylvester Renner (President/Executive Director): $28,600 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Strategically empowers lives in Africa by providing educational opportunities & strengthening self-reliance so that individuals, families, & communities can create positive change in their own lives. We provide school supplies, solar lights (so kids can study at night), mosquito nets (to keep children safe from malaria), computer/vocational training, etc.
What it reported doing in 2025
Partnerships in Education Programs: provide educational support to schools and groups; funds provide scholarships covering school-related expenses, enabled care for basic needs such as schooling, uniforms, etc.; provide mentoring support to youth; create real and lasting change for families and communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 50% for direct work, and 50% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 59th 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: 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: -0.6%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.73; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $342K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $29K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.