Marshallese Educational Initiative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463148318
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Springdale, AR, USA
Phone
4793657019
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$780,978
Expenses
$779,034
Assets
$203,256
Liabilities
$39,529

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lori Williamson (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Paul Swington (Director): $1,640 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 blend scholarly research with practical outreach efforts to create awareness on a national stage, while also making a real difference in the lives of individual Marshallese. Today, our Marshallese staff serve our community through direct outreach, provide programming for youth, women, and elders, and continue to raise awarene of nuclear testing.

What it reported doing in 2024

MEI Staff help Marshallese navigate life in the United States. Programming areas include day to day outreach, interpreter and translation services, and one-on-one assistance mainting a staff and office. Specific programs are aimed at youth, women, and elder populations. Youth programming is center on raising educational attainment levels and providing opportunities for leadership development. In addition, MEIs womens advocacy program is focused on raising awarenes of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking and helping mitigate its prevalence in pacific islander culture. The organization also educates the public regarding the impact of nuclear testing and climate changes on the islands of how it affects the Marshallese community members in the US.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $127.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • 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: 50%; rating input score 50; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.4% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $659K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.