Mona Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 911968512
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Bellevue, WA, USA
- Phone
- 4257434550
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,857,276
- Expenses
- $2,450,083
- Assets
- $6,724,755
- Liabilities
- $31,155
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- LAURA BAERWOLF (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $133,603 total reported compensation
- MAHNAZ JAVID (CEOPRESIDENT): $8,125 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Mona Foundation supports grassroots initiatives around the world that educate children, empower women and girls, and emphasize ethics and service to develop next generation change agents who uplift themselves, their families, and their communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
Digital Study Hall, India - $317,916 (aka Study Hall Educational Foundation): 1) 387,434 students were educated and 28,126 teachers were trained, and 2,139,125 parents and community members were engaged across all SHEF programs: 2) Aarohini Girls Education and Empowerment program trained 27,974 teachers and engaged 78,600 students 3) Provided 150 K-12 scholarships to Prerna Girls School AND 25 scholarships to Study Hall College 4) Funded 87 GyanSetu centers in urban slums and remote villages, reaching 1,645 students 5) Indias Daughters Campaign engaged 102,435 students across 1,611 schools, reaching 1,738,940 community members 6) DSH ONLINE increased subscribers to 130,000 with over 22.8 million views and accessed by 203,261 unique users.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 37
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: 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: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -31.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.