Vow for Girls Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831964328
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2018
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6463636376
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Victims' Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,100,926
Expenses
$3,504,871
Assets
$4,212,680
Liabilities
$291,235

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLAY DUNN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER THRU 07/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEGHAN SHARER (VP OF OPERATIONS): $191,279 total reported compensation
  • CLAY DUNN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER THRU 07/2025): $173,428 total reported compensation
  • ELIZA MUNSON (VP, PHILANTHROPY & PARTNERSHIPS): $171,966 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To end child marriage by creating a new stream of funding that can building a connected groundswell of love and support for every girl whose right to own her future is at risk.

What it reported doing in 2025

See schedule o all donations made by companies and the general public are raised specifically for program expenses, and 100% of these contributions are used to support community-based organizations through vow's granting partner, the girls first fund.vow keeps this 100% promise by fundraising separately for its operational budget from private foundations and generous individuals.the girls first fund, a program of capital for good, is currently the sole program beneficiary of vow for girls inc. The girls first fund imagines a world where girls and women can live in safety, dignity, and freedom, with meaningful choices about their lives, including if, when, and whom they marry.in 2025, the girls first fund distributed grants in twenty-two countries, supporting a breadth of organizations and interventions to strengthen a thriving community-level ecosystem of community-based organizations working to end child marriage. The girls first fund exists to fund these strategies at scale while accompanying groups on their journey.in addition to direct grantmaking to grassroots organizations, the girls first fund provides mentoring and networking support. They connect their grantees to one another and other influential actors and seek to increase grantees' influence at the national level, ensuring local and national movements are bolstered by the perspectives of local communities.beyond their direct grantee relationships, they advocate for better resources for community-based organizations amongst peer donors by amplifying grassroots insights, strategies, and impacts gathered through their fund learning initiatives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.6%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 58.9%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.3%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 40.6% of revenue deployed · 58.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 11 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $523K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.