Nicolas Fund for Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454887611
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Bellevue, WA, USA
Phone
2066190999
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$846,496
Expenses
$779,818
Assets
$1,351,373
Liabilities
$10,636

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALFRED LOPUS (PRESIDENT)
  • PAUL SELVIG (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ALFRED LOPUS (PRESIDENT)
  • PAUL SELVIG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CARRIE NORDBERG (SECRETARY)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Nicolas fund for education (nfe) provides students with the skills and opportunities they need to rise out of poverty and transform their lives. Nfe is creating a generation of young leaders who can help bring about real and lasting change in their communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, the school had 175 students. 24 students graduated from nicolas christian school's high school and 28 students graduated from our junior high. Since 2015, we have had 152 students graduate from high school and 207 graduate from junior high. Nicolas christian school provides high quality rigorous education in conformance with guatemalan ministry of education standards. The nicolas christian school provides safe transportation for students from their village to the school in a nearby town which is approximately 40 minutes away and back home again at the end of the day. (continued on scheduled o)these students live in a remote agricultural region in the highlands of guatemala where most young people do not have an opportunity to receive higher education beyond the sixth grade for financial reasons. In this region mired in poverty, only 5-13% of the rural poor graduate from high school and less than 1% attend university. Due to poor road conditions, we are operating a satellite school in a remote village and digital curriculum from nicolas christian school.

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 91% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 7.9%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 89.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $696K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.