Lean Enterprise Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043382623
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6178712900
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,239,853
- Expenses
- $7,365,631
- Assets
- $3,087,005
- Liabilities
- $1,706,448
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOSHUA HOWELL (PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE TEAM)
Highest reported compensation
- KAREN GAUDET (SENIOR COACH): $466,259 total reported compensation
- MARK REICH (SENIOR COACH & CHIEF ENGINEER, STRATEGY): $396,122 total reported compensation
- JOSHUA HOWELL (PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE TEAM): $369,857 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To promote the widespread adoption of a set of ideas known as lean thinking.
What it reported doing in 2024
Co-learning partners - institute personnel work with organizations desiring to support the institute's non-profit, education and research mission by participating in leadership development and co-learning activities as part of the organization's learning and improvement strategy. Typically the co-learning partnership consist of activities in five core areas: 1) executive leadership engagement; 2) training and capability development; 3) co-learning projects or experiments; 4) interaction with lei partners and the lei community; and 5) documentation and research.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 93.7%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 69.2%; rating input score 69; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.7%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 33.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $466K · 20 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.