Points of Light

Legal name: Points of Light Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
650206641
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Atlanta, GA, US
Phone
404-979-2900
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,965,060
Expenses
$30,047,317
Assets
$16,534,889
Liabilities
$7,663,237

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER SIRANGELO (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER SIRANGELO (PRESIDENT/CEO): $658,294 total reported compensation
  • DIANE QUEST (SECRETARY/COO (THRU 10/17/25)): $383,171 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM BART SNELL (CFAO): $261,800 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire, equip and connect nonprofits/NGOs, businesses and individuals ready to apply their time, talent, voice and resources to solve society’s greatest challenges.

What it reported doing in 2024

Points of light's program evaluation, network, and NGO programming focuses on building a stronger global volunteer ecosystem that allows our partners to mobilize and leverage volunteers effectively and sustainably to further their missions and meet community needs. Programming includes:- capacity building support for the points of light global network of 120 affiliate ngos in 38 countries that provide on-the-ground volunteer mobilization to support community-based organizations. This includes ongoing technical assistance, leadership development, and collaboration opportunities for affiliates.- shaping the future of volunteering through the ongoing curation and dissemination of timely research, data, and insights on volunteering, community and civic engagement, and sector trends. - administration of the president's volunteer service award, which annually recognizes over 120,000 individuals contributing more than 86 million hours of service.- management of the service enterprise programan evidence-based certification and training initiative that helps u.s. Nonprofits scale impact through volunteer engagement.- together, these efforts enhance the sector's capacity to meet critical needs and foster a global movement of civic engagement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • 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: 50%; rating input score 50; 11th 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: 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: -15.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 81% of revenue deployed · 69.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $20.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $658K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $318K reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 115 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 98 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.