Global Volunteers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363352680
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
8004871074
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,870,811
Expenses
$3,610,664
Assets
$1,220,620
Liabilities
$1,153,252

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BURNHAM PHILBROOK JD (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • BURNHAM PHILBROOK JD (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELE GRAN MA (VICE PRESIDE)
  • SAM HANSON JD (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To encourage and enable volunteers to spend short periods of time working with and learning from and about local people in communities throughout the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Below data are not exhaustive, but provide highlights of global volunteers' service accomplishments in various countries during fy23. Cuba: volunteers practice conversational english with youth and adults, work in community gardens, support and assist seniors, make crafts with a local women's cooperative, and help with light construction and/or painting. Tanzania: the prevalence of childhood stunting was significantly reduced in families enrolled in global volunteers' reaching children's potential (rcp) program, as reported by the tanzania food and nutrition center, a division of the tanzania ministry of health. Rcp is a child-focused, parent-driven, community-led, and volunteer-supported comprehensive program that invests in children's and mothers' nutrition, health, and education beginning with pregnancy, continuing through the 18th birthday, and focusing on the first 1,000 days of life. All components are implemented and directed by local people with the catalytic support of local staff and external volunteers. Volunteers help parents and community members deliver the 12 essential services prescribed by un agencies so that childhood stunting can be eliminated, and all children can reach their full potential. Volunteer professionals conduct interactive parent workshops; provide pregnant women, parents of children two years and younger, and school-age children with two nutritious meals daily; accompany the staff caregivers on their weekly home visits; demonstrate proper hand washing with soap and water; help assemble household hand washing stations so parents can ensure they and their children have access to appropriate hygiene, , teach/tutor english, math, science, and health at the primary school, teach/ tutor secondary school students in english, math, biology, chemistry, physics, and physical geography and help repair classrooms. Volunteers with medical backgrounds assist 6 medical staff at the ipalamwa general clinic. Poland: volunteers teach conversational english to elementary, high school, and summer school settings. Volunteers provide ukrainian refugee families relief and psychosocial support. Volunteers engage with school-age ukrainian and polish children during summer camps.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 50
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.94; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.