Follow Your Dream Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383581515
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124613703
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Human Rights

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,250,476
Expenses
$26,669,090
Assets
$29,658,116
Liabilities
$21,347,765

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeremy Hockenstein (President/Treas)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeremy Hockenstein (President/Treas): $59,333 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To create better futures for disadvantaged people

What it reported doing in 2024

Running the Livelihood Impact Fund program, which provides grants and loans and intensive consulting support for organizations working to increase incomes for the poor.As part of the Livelihood Impact Fund program, Follow Your Dream has a team of staff, consultants and volunteers who work closely with our grantees. This team has specialized skills and expertise in a range of relevant areas. They provide capacity building support to our grantees and also oversee our research grants. In some areas, such as our eyeglass initiative, our director supervises and directs the activities of grantee organizations as part of our work to significantly increase the number of reading glasses distributed to low-income people. In these cases, grantees conduct activities under the general direction and supervision of Follow Your Dream.FYD has made program-related investments in several for-profit social enterprises, such as Kuza Koolers, Rashak and Farmworks. In these cases, we work closely with the organizations to build their capacity and help them strengthen their long-term impact.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 79% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 66
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.1%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 12th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2,032.7%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 44.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $26.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $59K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $123K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 37 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 36 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.