The Be Kind People Project Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460720140
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6025599399
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,441,207
Expenses
$2,914,516
Assets
$2,353,531
Liabilities
$3,065,356

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARCIA MEYER (CEO/ BOARD CHAIR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LORA GOLKE- CHIEF DEV (OFFICER (AS OF MAR. '24)): $168,281 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA BRITT (CHIEF PROGRAMS AND OPERATING OFFICER): $98,303 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the be kind people project is to deliver relevant learning and youth development opportunities that inspire positive change, inspire humanity, support academic improvement, and motivate healthy living for students wherever and however they (con't on sch o) learn. The organization operates with a vision of building a generation of respectful, responsible, physically and mentally healthy, and caring citizens and leaders.

What it reported doing in 2024

Be kind: at the core of the program is the be kind pledge to help kids understand what it means to be kind by pledging to be encouraging, be supportive, be positive, be helpful, be honest, be considerate, be thankful, be responsible, be respectful, and be a friend. They learn and practice the emotional and interpersonal skills needed to make these values an integral and ongoing part of their lives. It is a positive, action-based, innovative solution for ameliorating unwanted school and personal behavior, often manifested as bullying, and learn what it means for them to "be kind people." bringing the pledge to life is the be kind crew, a group of gifted young hip hop performers who imaginatively convey the kindness message and connect with students in contemporary ways that kids find engaging, relevant (con't on sch o) and fun. They serve as positive and amazingly "cool" behavior role models for students. The be kind academy online program provides monthly language arts, math, and exercise activities that combine character development skills, healthy habits motivation, digital responsibility lessons, and interactive dance/ movement kinesthetic learning videos with common core standards, sel (per casel) skills, and cdc standards-available for to any teacher in america, free of charge to use in their lesson plans. Be kind break premium is also available on a subscription basis for teachers in schools with comprehensive programs. The combination of be kind break (online and premium) offerings provide 60 lessons, videos, worksheets, activities, and civic engagement project tips. The combination of assemblies given by the be kind crew, followed up with online materials and resources provided to educators in the be kind academy, give validation and monitoring of metrics for schools (k-8) to be named as be kind schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.3; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.