Hands Across the Sea

Legal name: Hands Across the Sea Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205897380
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Boston, MA, U.S.A.
Phone
+1 617-755-9896
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health - General and Rehabilitative N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$514,433
Expenses
$401,388
Assets
$513,896
Liabilities
$8,794

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AMANDA SHERLIP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR thru April)
  • ANGELA WEST BLANK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR interim)
  • BENJAMIN ENGLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR start May)

Highest reported compensation

  • BENJAMIN ENGLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR start May): $90,699 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA SHERLIP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR thru April): $52,400 total reported compensation
  • ANGELA WEST BLANK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR interim): $4,530 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Hands Across the Sea is dedicated to raising children's literacy in the Eastern Caribbean through school and community library programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, hands across the sea distributed 15,097 new books to children across antigua and barbuda, dominica, grenada, st. Kitts and nevis, saint lucia, and st. Vincent and the grenadines. Through these efforts, the organization reached 10,267 students with high-quality, curated book collections and sustained literacy programming. Program activities included the continued strengthening of the class program through active school libraries and ongoing support, the expansion of the early pages programme to st. Vincent and the grenadines, and the delivery of targeted remedial reading and special education needs collections to schools with identified gaps. Through these combined efforts, along with direct engagement and program oversight provided by in-country literacy links, hands across the sea supported teachers, strengthened classroom instruction, and sustained literacy development across the region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 - Most voting board members are independent and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.4%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.28; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 51.4% of revenue deployed · 65.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $263K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.