Planet Aid Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043348171
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Milford, MA, USA
Phone
5088930644
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$34,415,821
Expenses
$35,351,639
Assets
$27,338,860
Liabilities
$14,849,505

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRED OLSSON (PRESIDENT, CEO, DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES R DUCKWORTH (CFO): $232,142 total reported compensation
  • WAYNE MICHAUD (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $191,592 total reported compensation
  • FRED OLSSON (PRESIDENT, CEO, DIRECTOR): $172,538 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Protect the environment, reduce waste, and increase the efficient use of vital resources. Strengthen and organize communities, reduce poverty and promote small enterprise development, support sustainable local food production, improve access to training and quality education, increase health awareness and encourage healthy lifestyles, foster direct cooperation and understanding among people across the planet and help disadvantaged populations of the world create lasting positive change.

What it reported doing in 2025

International training and capacity building: as part of its commitmeent to international development, planet aid undertakes programs of international exchange and training. Planet aid works closely with non-governmental organizations in a number of developing countries to build local capacity and move towards self-sustainability. Planet aid also provides information for the us public in matters related to international development and supports education programs in cooperation with public and private schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.8%; rating input score 95; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 74.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $26.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $232K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.