Mastercard Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980543843
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Phone
6472085154
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,513,121,957
Expenses
$1,633,430,674
Assets
$50,320,893,084
Liabilities
$35,372,293

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REETA ROY (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • REETA ROY (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $1,335,867 total reported compensation
  • PETER MATERU (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $754,437 total reported compensation
  • DOUGLAS KASAMBALA (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $640,431 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified, meaningful, and fulfilling work. The Centre works with a range of actors — including innovation hubs, EdTech entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers, educators, and learners — to support the effective and impactful integration of technology in education, including the development, deployment, and scale-up of promising EdTech innovations that boost learning and strengthen the education system. The Centre's three core functions are to foster ICT innovations, share best practices and advance research, and convene stakeholders: system leaders, development partners, policymakers, innovators, EdTech entrepreneurs, teachers, private sector leaders, and global experts. A young woman participating in the...

What it reported doing in 2024

Mastercard Foundation's partnership with BRAC will support improving the lives of over 1.2 million adolescent girls and young women across seven African countries. This will be achieved by scaling BRAC's proven models of amplifying the agency of girls and young women through life skills training, increasing the productive participation of the poorest and most vulnerable young women through financial literacy, and accelerating access to finance for young women.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 93% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 97
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 74.9%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 30.81; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 47% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $1.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 25 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $48.5M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 66 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 45 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.