Sil Lead

Legal name: Sil Lead Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452532091
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2023
Official website data refreshed
Jun 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Dallas, TX, USA
Phone
9727087412
Rating
49
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$278,791
Expenses
$415,538
Assets
$93,517
Liabilities
$139,517

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christof Weber (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Fraser Bennett (Associate Director): $132,687 total reported compensation
  • Steve Woolston (Director): $112,942 total reported compensation
  • Christof Weber (Executive Director): $102,737 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of SIL LEAD is to serve minority language communities and support the vision and mission of SIL International, primarily through a focus on language and its role in education and development in minority language communities.

What it reported doing in 2023

During FY24, SIL LEAD participated as a subcontractor on two education projects funded by USAID, one in the Philippines with RTI International and the other in Madagascar with FHI 360. Each of these projects was designed to improve the quality of education in the respective countries and was carried out in collaboration with the host country through its Ministry of Education. SIL LEAD's involvement in these projects involved technical assistance; enhancement of local capacity through training and consultation; development and production of instructional materials; the training of writers, teachers, and trainers; and/or facilitation and support of workshops. Specific FY24 accomplishments by project follow. 1) Philippines ABC+ (RTI International): The ABC+ program seeks to improve early-grade literacy in the mother tongue and learners' transition of reading ability to Filipino and English. In FY24, SIL LEAD wrapped up its work on the ABC+ program. Our Executive Director and two of our consultants traveled to Kalibo and Numancia in Aklan province to participate in the delivery and celebration of first through third grade materials in the Akeanon language. 2) Madagascar LOVA (FHI 360): In FY24, SIL LEAD organized a research study to determine how well schoolteachers in Madagascar control Official Malagasy, the official language of instruction. We trained staff from the project and the National Ministry of Education to use SIL's Bloom book creation software and developed a set of 40 bilingual books in Official Malagasy and three local varieties of Malagasy. We also recommended classroom strategies for teachers to leverage their students' knowledge of local Malagasy varieties in learning Official Malagasy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 64% 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

MIXED - Most filed governance safeguards are in place. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 7
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 37.5%; rating input score 38
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 24th 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: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -49.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.49; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 56% of revenue deployed · 37.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $156K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $133K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 57/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • 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 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.