Fundação Luso-Americana Para O Desenvolvimento

Legal name: Luso-american Development Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980075208
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Phone
+351 213 935 800
Rating
41
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,835,310
Expenses
$11,532,221
Assets
$212,690,974
Liabilities
$2,135,429

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nuno Morais Sarmento (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nuno Morais Sarmento (President): $340,281 total reported compensation
  • Miguel Vieira Vaz (Director): $135,686 total reported compensation
  • Maria Fatima Fonseca (Director): $129,820 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Promover o desenvolvimento nas áreas da ciência, educação, cultura e pensamento estratégico, fortalecendo as relações entre Portugal e os Estados Unidos.

What it reported doing in 2025

See Schedule O, Statement 1

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

MIXED - Program spending has grown recently and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 40
  • Transparency & Controls: 40
  • Accountability: 21
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 52.8%; rating input score 53
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 20.8%; rating input score 21; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.3%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.44; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 41% of revenue deployed · 52.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $340K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 21/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.