Luminos Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364817073
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
7813338317
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,330,335
Expenses
$11,429,764
Assets
$17,743,962
Liabilities
$381,452

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAITLIN BARON (CEO)
  • MARETTA SILVERMAN (VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS)

Highest reported compensation

  • CAITLIN BARON (CEO): $379,066 total reported compensation
  • KELLY TANNER-BACKENROTH (GLOBAL PEOPLE OFFICER): $170,798 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE MONTELBANO (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $155,883 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Luminos fund provides transformative education programs to thousands of out-of-school children, helping them to catch up to grade level, reintegrate into government schools, and prepare for lifelong learning.

What it reported doing in 2024

Luminos provides transformative education programs to thousands of out-of-school children, helping them to catch up to grade level, reintegrate into government schools, and prepare for lifelong learning. Luminos was founded to ensure all children have equal access to joyful, foundational learning, especially those shut out of education by crisis, poverty, or discrimination. Their vision is of a world where no child is ever denied the chance to learn. To date, luminos has served 377,407 children across ethiopia, ghana, liberia, lebanon, and the gambia. As luminos scales pioneering new approaches to bring quality education to children in the greatest need, they work together with local governments to drive systems-level change.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 54% for direct work, and 46% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th 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: 20.2%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $379K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.