Faraja Fund Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 205954310
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-PF 2023
- Location
- Glenview, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8472204689
- Rating
- 61
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Private Grantmaking Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,241,354
- Expenses
- $759,063
- Assets
- $2,130,969
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- John Tolmie (Vice President)
- David Vermylen (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Jeryl Levin (Executive Dir.): $129,600 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Faraja Fund Foundation is to provide opportunity, hope, and health for children with physical disabilities in Tanzania. It does this primarily by funding the Faraja Primary School, which offers education, health care, and physical therapy, and through the new Faraja Forward initiative, which extends community health and support programs into more remote villages. The ultimate goal is to empower graduates to become self-sufficient adults who can contribute to their families and communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Faraja Fund Foundation supports the operations of Faraja Primary School for Children with Physical Disabilities in Sanja Juu, Tanzania. Faraja is a residential primary school, grades K-8. 100 children attend the school and receive an excellent primary school education, health care, vocational training and round-the-clock emotional and physical support. Faraja Fund Foundation supports the operations of Faraja Forward, which provides medical and psychosocial support, community health worker training, and advocacy and outreach on behalf of disabled children and their families in the rural and far-rural villages of northern Tanzania.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 93% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 77
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 50.9%; rating input score 51
- Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.81; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.1%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 50.9% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $578K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.