Room to Read
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 912003533
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- +1 (415) 839-4401
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $74,017,388
- Expenses
- $64,573,259
- Assets
- $90,560,414
- Liabilities
- $9,905,044
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GEETHA MURALI (CEO / DIRECTOR)
- NANCY SHYER (VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE)
- LUCINA DI MECO (VICE PRESIDENT, GIRLS' EDUCATION PROGRAM)
Highest reported compensation
- GEETHA MURALI (CEO / DIRECTOR): $440,457 total reported compensation
- SHARI FREEDMAN (CFO): $343,888 total reported compensation
- HEATHER SIMPSON (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $314,323 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Founded in 2000, Room to Read’s mission is to nurture foundational learning skills in children, developing children’s literacy and life skills in a dignified and gender-equal way. (Donor-facing: Room to Read believes world change starts with educated children.). Room to Read’s workforce includes a geographically representative and diverse group of staff, partners, board members, volunteers and ambassadors, all actively working to advance our mission. This community includes more than **1,200 staff across 20 countries** in addition to thousands of additional stakeholders who help us achieve our mission. Local nationals lead our community-based operations in the countries we serve, from program design to implementation. **Nearly 90% of our employees are located in the countries we serve. LEADERSHIP PARTNERS.
What it reported doing in 2025
Room to read's literacy program portfolio supports children in developing literacy skills and a love of reading by training and coaching educators, creating quality curriculum and children's book content in local languages, and enriching learning spaces that enable children to become independent readers. To date, room to read has benefited 54.99 mm children benefited through its literacy portfolio.
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 96% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 60
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.5%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 86.3%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 27th 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: 12.8%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 75.5% of revenue deployed · 86.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $55.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $440K · 27 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $373K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.