Kivunim Institute

Legal name: Kivunim C/o Geffen

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571148733
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2023
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
9179303092
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,622,804
Expenses
$2,954,087
Assets
$269,372
Liabilities
$1,496,832

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIANA R LAUTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • PETER GEFFEN (PRESIDENT & FOUNDER)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER GEFFEN (PRESIDENT & FOUNDER): $332,216 total reported compensation
  • ELIANA R LAUTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $142,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Building Jewish identity within the context of an emerging sense of "world-consciousness" both as Jews and as citizens of the world. Kivunim’s programs seek to re-establish the lost link to the history of the Jewish people throughout the world by discovering and sharing the noble and creative story of Jewish life around the globe.

What it reported doing in 2023

Student academic year program: an approximately 8-month october-may educational and international travel study program for predominantly north american high-school seniors after graduation. The program combined approximately 5 months of residence in israel punctuated by foreign travel to various countries in europe, asia (india), north africa (morocco) and the middle east (uae/dubai) totalling approxmately 3 months. In fy24 the program commenced with a one week orientation program in the USA. The focus of the program is on understanding the history and contemporary life of international jewish communities including israel, and in the context of the broader history of these countries and of the multi-cultural world in which we live; activities include study and lecture programs as well as cultural and religious programs, integrated with visits to historical, cultural, and religious sites. Kivunim carries out this program in conjunction with and via its support to the israel-based not-for-profit organization kivunim educational programs (r.a.).

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -12.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 5.56; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $332K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.