Friends for African Education Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 452957103
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Elk Rapids, MI, USA
- Rating
- 92
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Relief
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $64,493
- Expenses
- $66,264
- Assets
- $240
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Paul Brink (President and Director)
People named in this filing
- Paul Brink (President and Director)
- David Fifield (Treasurer and Director)
- Margaret Fifield (Secretary and Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Friends for African Education Inc. operates as a 501c3 nonprofit aiming to support educational initiatives in Africa. The organizations core mission involves managing funds to offer financial aid mentorship business planning and other forms of support to primary and secondary schools across the African continent. In 2025 the organization extended financial aid to the Nicholas Robinson School NRS located in the conflict-affected region near Mekelle Ethiopia in partnership with Rainbows 4 Children R4C a Swiss charitable entity registered under CHE-111.732.734. NRS serves as both a primary and secondary educational institution serving 1800 students.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Nicholas Robinson School which R4C mentors and partially supports financially currently educates 210 students in kindergarten 1120 students in the primary school and 470 students in the secondary school. The school is checked and evaluated by the Ethiopian Mistry of Education every few years and is currently rated the top quality school in the Tigray region of 6 million people.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 99.7%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $66K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.