Serra International Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 366084012
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3124197411
- Rating
- 61
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $600,038
- Expenses
- $347,073
- Assets
- $3,248,993
- Liabilities
- $8,346
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CYNTHIA BELL (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- CECILIA ADKINDALE (TRUSTEE)
- CYNTHIA BELL (PRESIDENT)
- MICHAEL BRAGG (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To fund programs that foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood of the catholic church as a particular vocation to service; to fund programs of formation for men and women in consecrated religious life in the catholic church; and to enhance recognition of serra international as the global lay apostolate for vocations in the catholic church.
What it reported doing in 2024
Fund programs that foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood of the catholic church as a particular vocation to service; to fund programs of formation for men and women in consecrated religious life in the catholic church; and to enhance recognition of serra international as the global lay apostolate for vocations in the catholic church.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 55
- Transparency & Controls: 63
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 88
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 56.4%; rating input score 56
- Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 35%; rating input score 35; 27th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 42.2%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.36; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 56.4% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $219K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 26 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 35/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.