Middle East Children's Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943074600
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5105480542
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,269,688
Expenses
$13,319,873
Assets
$18,964,212
Liabilities
$283,388

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAMI KITMITTO (PRESIDENT)
  • SHERRY GENDELMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ZEIAD SHAMROUCH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ZEIAD SHAMROUCH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $137,775 total reported compensation
  • JOSIE SHIELDS STROMSNESS (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $101,810 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1988, the middle east children's alliance is a registered nonprofit organization working for the rights and the well being of children in the middle east. Meca sends shipments of aid to palestine, iraq and lebanon, and supports projects that make life better for the children. We educate north americans about children in the region. Meca welcomes the support of all people who care about children and their future.

What it reported doing in 2024

The maia project: the maia project to provide clean water to children in gaza began at the request of schoolchildren in gaza. Since october 2023, the maia project has shifted focus to build water purification units that can serve displaced families and to buy and distribute clean water by truck to different areas where families have no source of clean drinking water.in fy 2024-2025 meca: installed 3 new or refurbished water purification units to provide safe, clean water to displaced families in gaza installed 2 new water purification units to provide safe, clean water to hospitals in gaza and the displaced families sheltering in the areas around the hospitals made grants to 4 community organizations to buy and distribute 14,254,372 gallons of clean drinking water to displaced families throughout gaza contracted with an environmental engineer to conduct regular monitoring of the water quality, oversee the repairs and maintenance on all the water units we have installed across gaza, and oversee the distribution of emergency trucked water to displaced families.meca also provided other forms of emergency aid, made grants to palestinian universities for scholarships, supported income-generation projects, made grants to operate malnutrition and health clinics, and continued our work to build greater understanding of the lives of children in the middle east and to inspire people in the us to action through a range of educational and cultural programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 90% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 95.2%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $34.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.1%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.3% of revenue deployed · 95.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $12.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $138K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.