Forgotten Children Worldwide

Legal name: Forgotten Children Worldwide Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260609769
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bluffton, IN, United States
Phone
260-353-1580
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's, Youth Services
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,187,124
Expenses
$3,879,064
Assets
$3,754,789
Liabilities
$63,733

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATT BERTSCH (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATT HARTSELL (Executive Dir.): $90,000 total reported compensation
  • JANEE NUSSBAUM (CFO): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Forgotten Children Worldwide seeks to provide a loving and nurturing environment for orphans and vulnerable children by protecting them from becoming victims of extreme poverty and child trafficking so they can grow to fully understand the love of Jesus Christ. & Vision Our Mission Forgotten Children Worldwide seeks to provide a loving and nurturing environment for orphans and vulnerable children by protecting them from becoming victims of extreme poverty and child trafficking so they can grow to understand the love of Jesus Christ fully. By partnering with indigenous Christians worldwide, we strive to empower forgotten children through strategic sponsorships, clothing distribution, self-sustainability initiatives, orphan home construction, and other life-improving projects.

What it reported doing in 2024

To collect and ship used clothing. Forty foot containers, around 24,000 pounds of clothing for each container, are shipped to evangelical ministries who are operating in established ministries around the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 60% for direct work, and 40% 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th 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: 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.9% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.