Peace Through Commerce Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 273971757
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2010
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Phone
- 5125220782
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $28,470
- Expenses
- $23,107
- Assets
- $260,936
- Liabilities
- $85
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michelle Waters (Vice President)
- Philomena Blees (Director, CEO, President)
Highest reported compensation
- Patti Brennan (Treasurer, Bookkeeper): $561 total reported compensation
- Michelle Waters (Vice President): $350 total reported compensation
- Philomena Blees (Director, CEO, President): $132 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Peace Through Commerce is a strategic global and educational organization dedicated to creating a world where all people enjoy peace and prosperity. We use our proprietary Matrix of Peace Services for society building, peacebuilding, and problem-solving.
What it reported doing in 2024
Matrix of Peace Services: education, training and implementation. This framework embodies our peacebuilding technology. It is a multi-sector, whole-systems, consciousness-raising framework for designing and actualizing peaceful societies. We have used it in our co-partnerships with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. We have also used it as our training model with incubators Shakti Leadership and Alumni and Donors Unite. The biggest activity this year has been the continued work on a three-volume treatise on the framework. Volumes 1,2 and 3 cover Matrix theory, model and technology, respectively. The books are slated for publication in Winter 2025-2026. The book has received a foreward by John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods Market and Love.Life, and an afterword by Dr. Timothy Fort, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Expenses for consulting fees and rent: noncash $191,000. Revenue: Noncash donation $191,000.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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.
- 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 60
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.9%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 91.1%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $28,470 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.8%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.29; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -23.2% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.9% of revenue deployed · 91.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $21K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $561 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.