Karat School Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
825036957
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
5102289981
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$322,741
Expenses
$284,773
Assets
$150,080
Liabilities
$12,475

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EVELYN KEOMIAN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EVELYN KEOMIAN (PRESIDENT): $87,521 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educate children and women by utilizing a culturally-relevant, dynamic syllabus and new technologies, and enable them to have a lifelong love of learning. Empower those in extreme poverty to reach their full potential. Invest in local communities by delivering supplies and nutritious meals - allowing students and their families to focus on learning. Eradicate the cycle of poverty by providing valuable education and making a sustainable change in people's lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

The karat school project (ksp) provides holistic education and empowerment programs for underserved girls and families in cte d'ivoire, addressing barriers such as poverty, gender inequality, and food insecurity.in 2025, ksp maintained a 100% national exam pass rate for the third consecutive year and has served 782 students to date. The organization implements a multigenerational model through its education incentive farming program, where girls attend school while mothers receive training in literacy, financial skills, and climate-resilient agriculture. In 2025, the program graduated three cohorts of women and produced 1.5 tons of food supporting students, families, and the local community.ksp also delivered health and gender equity services, including 387 community health screenings and menstrual health education for 1,000+ girls.ksp is expanding toward a permanent campus with capacity to serve up to 500 students annually.program expenses: approximately 65.9% of total expenses (cte d'ivoire programs: school 42.95% + women & girls 22.96%).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $242K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.