Mercado Global Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201348926
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 7188389908
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,910,780
- Expenses
- $1,909,006
- Assets
- $830,705
- Liabilities
- $705,853
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RUTH ALVAREZ-DEGOLIA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- KARAE LISLE (BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
- MARK SWEDLUND (BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
- MARIA GEENEN (BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Mercado global empowers rurual artisian entrepreneurs across the americas to lift their families out of poverty through business training and access to international markets. Through our nonprofit model, we strengthen communities and families, weaving market access, community-based education, and asset development into a program focused on financial independence to overcome poverty.
What it reported doing in 2024
Economic empowerment program our economic empowerment program helps rural artisan entrepreneurs break the cycle of local poverty through market access, business education, and asset development.through our market access program, we help over 1,000 rural artisan entrepreneurs build their own community artisan businesses and access international markets. The rural artisans we partner with are incredibly talented weavers whose main obstacle to overcome poverty is lack of access to a market. Now, through their work with mercado global, these artisans are able to access the international market and earn a fair wage for the first time in their lives. With our partner artisans, we design collections for major international fashion brands and retailers that are handmade in theircommunities.through our community-based education program, we provide technical and business training in local languages that complement market access opportunities. Building business skills and market-ready technical weaving and sewing skills, when paired with income-earning opportunities, enables rural artisans to become confident leaders who look after their families' health, finances, and education.through our asset development program, we help rural artisans secure their own floor looms, sewing machines and other productive assets needed to ensure future income generation. We also help build the practice of saving so that rural artisans have a buffer against a return to poverty and can invest in their families and communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.