Educate

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841648607
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3032174727
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,807,839
Expenses
$11,677,466
Assets
$28,744,283
Liabilities
$6,435,150

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Boris Bulayev (CEO and Co-Founder)

Highest reported compensation

  • Boris Bulayev (CEO and Co-Founder): $147,483 total reported compensation
  • Ivan Ssenfuma (Chief Financial Officer): $146,029 total reported compensation
  • Meghan Mahoney (Global Dir. of Research/Measurement/): $137,796 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Educate! is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 2005 under the laws of the State of Colorado with operations in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania for the purpose of preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today's economy. Educate! creates a core learning experience that delivers essential skills youth need to transition to work, particularly in Africa's huge informal economy. This experience combines skills training, mentorship, and practical experience starting a business. Educate! delivers this experience by:1) introducing an employment-focused school subject in secondary education, and2) delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educate! is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 2005 under the laws of the State of Colorado with operations in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya for the purpose of preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today's economy. Educate!'s mission is to develop young leaders and entrepreneurs in Africa. Educate! delivers a practical and relevant model of education to youth in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya, comprised of a leadership and entrepreneurship course, interactive teaching, intensive mentorship, experience starting an enterprise.Educate! delivers this experience by:1) introducing an employment-focused school subject in secondary education, and2) delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -19.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.46; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.