Waterlines

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850378001
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Santa Fe, NM, USA
Phone
5059885642
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$5
Expenses
$101,653
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Douglas (Board Director President)

People named in this filing

  • Mark Reimers (Board Director)
  • Diane Reimers (Board Director)
  • Lou Harrington (Board Director)

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

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Waterlines sunset at the end of 2021 but before that for 35 years its mission was to provide adequate drinking water and sanitation to rural communities in developing countries. It did so by providing funding and technical expertise to implement projects. Those who worked with Waterlines in the US did so on a volunteer basis. In the last two years of 2020 and 2021 Waterlines intentionally discouraged any contributions because of the intention to go out of existence in December 2021.

What it reported doing in 2021

2021 was the last year of Waterlines' existence but it spent down its remaining bank account doing these final projects: In Kenya: building 19 latrine blocks toilets and bathing stalls at healthcare dispensaries building 3 complete rainwater harvesting systems 45,000 litre sized capacity at 3 healthcare dispensaries providing 3 plastic water tanks 10,000 litre capacity at the dispensaries building 3 raised tanks to provide water for handwashing and toilet facilities at these healthcare dispensaries.

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 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.4%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2,032,960%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -199.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -200% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $75K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2020 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.