Helvetas USA
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472569247
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2407430023
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $12,934,862
- Expenses
- $12,886,603
- Assets
- $1,154,350
- Liabilities
- $435,282
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Christian Steiner (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Christian Steiner (CEO): $217,097 total reported compensation
- Ohanyan Tatevik (Senior Director of Business Develop): $140,212 total reported compensation
- Christina Barstow (Director of Strategic Partnerships): $122,917 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We support poor and disadvantaged people and communities in developing and transitional countries in their efforts to improve their living conditions.
What it reported doing in 2025
Helvetas USA is organized to support poor and disadvantaged people and communities in developing countries in their efforts to improve living conditions, primarily by raising public awareness in the United States of Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and its global programs aimed at such purposes, and to raise funds and make grants in furtherance of such purposes.
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 98% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 92
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.8%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 95.2%; rating input score 95
- Fundraising efficiency: $33.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 0.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 25% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.8% of revenue deployed · 95.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $217K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.