Precision Development Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810779400
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Newton, MA, USA
Phone
6178543534
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,120,743
Expenses
$4,706,238
Assets
$7,515,206
Liabilities
$80,456

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NIRIKSHA SHETTY (CEO)
  • OWEN BARDER (CEO UNTIL 3/2024)

Highest reported compensation

  • OWEN BARDER (CEO UNTIL 3/2024): $246,668 total reported compensation
  • SARA GODFREY (SECRETARY AND COO): $222,215 total reported compensation
  • TOMOKO HARIGAYA (CHIEF ECONOMIST & DIRECTOR): $214,954 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to support smallholder farmers in developing countries by providing customized information and services that increase productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability

What it reported doing in 2024

Precision development(pxd) is a non-profit organization with a mission to support people living in extreme poverty by providing customized digital information and services that increase productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. We are pioneering a new model for digital development: reaching smallholder farmers and other users with personalized advice through their mobile phones. We collaborate with in-country partners, governments, and multilateral institutions to reach users at scale with mobile-based personalizedadvice, and gather evidence of its impact.using two-way communication and information aggregation, we offer our users valuable and practical information, customized to their geography, market, and characteristics. Pxd incorporates insights from behavioral economics, human-centered design, and social learningtheory, and makes use of a/b testing and data science to identify what types of information and delivery mechanisms work best for our users.pxd now has operations in india, kenya, and ethiopia.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.4%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $263.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th 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: 48.4%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.6; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.4% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $247K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $327K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.