Engage Africa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264058663
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Elgin, IL, USA
Phone
3097069698
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$272,940
Expenses
$267,795
Assets
$148,880
Liabilities
$3,770

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeff Hunt (President)
  • Abby Hunt (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeff Hunt (President): $37,470 total reported compensation
  • Abby Hunt (Vice President): $37,470 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We help the hurting, distressed, and underprivileged and provide relief to the poor children of Africa. Our humanitarian focus is to provide a place of safety, offer educational opportunities, and provide life skills training.

What it reported doing in 2025

Through our grants, about 100 children were ministered to weekly through church services. Bible and life-skills training was held weekly with a group of about 35 teenagers. Of those teenagers, about 12 also committed to more intensive monthly training in how to teach children. These 12 are also leaders for the weekly children's services. Six training workshops were held in south Africa and one in Zimbabwe to teach approximately 700 local volunteers how to teach children. We facilitated 30 outreaches for the children of the respective local communities reaching approximately 1500 children with biblical teaching, connecting them with the local churches, and giving them small Bibles. Additionally, we held 2 workshops training about 60 local volunteers how to include and teach children with disabilities and one Pastors Conference with about 100 local pastors being coached in leadership and biblical instruction. We hosted 3 teams of American volunteers. They assisted with outreaches, visited members of our own local church in a squatters' settlement, and worked on a variety of maintenance and gardening projects. During 2025, we ran a pilot after school care program providing 20 children each day with after-school homework help, life skill training, food, and a safe place to play. In addition, we have applied to the Department of Basic Education to register Bridge of Hope Preschool and have continued to press the Department of Social Development to register Bridge of Hope Children's Home so that we will be able to admit and care for abandoned and orphaned children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.4% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $238K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.