Living Water - Malawi

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465720844
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Ferndale, WA, USA
Rating
95
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$68,220
Expenses
$76,735
Assets
$22,138

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Caroline Schauer (Chairman)
  • Becky Unger (Secretary)
  • Hans J Schauer (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Charitable and educational relief to those living in poverty in Malawi Africa

What it reported doing in 2025

Orphanage Care: Our Seed of Hope Child Care Center offers full-time care for 30 children in the Mulanje district Malawi Africa. The center includes a preschool for about 65 children in the local region and a church for local villagers. It is secured by a brick wall and 24-hour guard coverage. The center employs 2 house mothers that live on site a cook 2 pre-school teachers and 2 security guards. Expenses include 16,600 for Monthly Support 2600 for rice 8670 for maize 1,605 for House mother salaries 535 for cook salary 1,594 for security guard salaries 1,900 for pre-school teachers salaries,1,670 for Director Salary 5,360 for purchase of mini-van 480 for vehicle costs 654 for Kitchen repairs 3,275 for construction of rice & maize storage building 874 for toilet repairs 571 for other necessary repairs 395 for clothing 140 for Garden seed and fertilizer plus 1,379 for other miscellaneous expenses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.4%; rating input score 97

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.2% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 6 filed program accomplishments · $75K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.