School-to-school International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020600889
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Millbrae, CA, USA
Phone
6503556248
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,126,039
Expenses
$4,821,083
Assets
$1,157,790
Liabilities
$408,072

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CANDACE DEBNAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MARK LYND (PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER)

Highest reported compensation

  • EILEEN DOMBROWSKI (DEPUTY CHIEF OF PARTY): $230,558 total reported compensation
  • CANDACE DEBNAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $199,898 total reported compensation
  • MAUREEN SCHROEDER-SANAI (SR. PROJECT DIRECTOR): $186,747 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 improve the lives and learning of children worldwide through thoughtful research, practice, and partnership. Continued on schedule o.school-to-school international (sts) is an international development organization dedicated to improving the lives of girls, boys, and their communities worldwide through access to quality education. We focus on creating conditions of success for children around the world. Last year, we partnered with individuals, government ministries, nongovernmental organizations, private foundations, and research institutions in 25 countries to assist with research, evaluation, curriculum, training, and strategic planning.

What it reported doing in 2024

USAID transforming teacher education activity in malawi and zambiagoal: to strengthen the capacity of pre-service teacher training institutions to improve student learning outcomes in early grade reading instruction.objective: equip targeted colleges of education (coes) and university faculty and lecturers with the skills and experience necessary to deliver effective instruction to teachers in training; standardize, align, and link practical, evidence-based, pre-service teacher training and content with the primary school literacy curriculum; and equip pre-service teachers in coes and universities with (cont. On sch. O) the professional skills necessary to deliver quality literacy instruction in primary schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 47
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 69.6%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $549.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5.9%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.6% of revenue deployed · 69.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $231K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $879K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.