Simba Educational Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474826706
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Garretson, SD, USA
Phone
6053515150
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$636,011
Expenses
$657,701
Assets
$196,601
Liabilities
$1,009

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chase Ward (President)
  • Zachary Bauer (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chase Ward (President): $32,967 total reported compensation
  • Annie Ward (Treasurer): $18,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Simba Educational Ministries mission is to further the Kingdom of God by equipping and empowering Kenyan children with the boldness of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the Gospel, through a Christ-centered education.

What it reported doing in 2025

Kingdom Building Our top donations went to purchasing a 9-acre piece of land in Kenya. This land will be used to build our Biblical Vocational College. Title Deed was obtained and was registered under the Kenyan Simba Educational Ministries Non-governmental organization. Construction of our college is projected to start in 2026. Our Guest House was fully commercialized to now be Simba Royalty Resort. This upgrade included a new air bnb house, standardizing our kitchen and restaurant, landscaping and development of a parking area. Some repairs needed were to the roof and repainting from water damage. This will help us continue to host our mission teams and local meetings. It will also feed and allow local Kenyans to use this facility.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 92.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $609K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $33K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.