The Sewing Machine Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260248041
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Monona, WI, USA
Phone
6082252315
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$105,520
Expenses
$85,963
Assets
$157,045
Liabilities
$3,496

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carolyn Benforado (President)

People named in this filing

  • Margaret Jankowski (Executive Dir.)
  • Carolyn Benforado (President)
  • Linda Nelson (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Sewing Machine Project (SMP) is a conduit for the sustainable distribution of donated sewing machines to individuals, through nonprofits whose mission is in service to underserved communities. Using these creative tools, recipients build skills along with self-confidence--nurturing creativity, expanding possibility, and improving the lives of recipients, their families and communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Sewing Machine Project operates on a local and national level offering machines and creative opportunities. We work with nonprofit groups helping people whose lives could be impacted by a sewing machine and who otherwise would not have access to these creative tools. We work with womens shelters, libraries, after school groups as well as many other community building organizations. Currently, we are working with refugee resettlement groups, helping our new neighbors find home in a new land.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.5%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.83; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.4% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $71K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.