How Your Donations Are Spent

[spacer height=”20px”]Nicolás Fund for Education is a very lean organization. NFE spends only 6% of our income on fund-raising, and Charity Navigator’s rankings indicate that organizations that spend 10% or less on fund-raising earn their top score for their fund-raising percentage metric.  NFE has no paid USA employees. NFE does contract with grant writers and a virtual assistant who helps our Board organize meetings and communication.

In Guatemala, NFE employs a Country Director, Ivan España, to administer our program.  NFE’s Guatemalan employees include our school Principal, Braulio, eight teachers for Nicolás Christian School, two teachers for the remote village of Villa Hortencia 1, a cook, and a security guard. We have contracts with three part-time school bus drivers. Through these employees, NFE now serves over 100 students from six villages in the Ixil region. Almost your entire donation goes directly to student programs and services.  [spacer height=”20px”][spacer height=”20px”]

[spacer height=”20px”]To explain our pie chart, the following may be helpful:

• Teachers and School Staff (32%): Employee salaries, payroll expenses and contracted staff.
• In Country Management (19%): Ivan España’s contract and related expenses as Country Director for NFE.
• School Equipment and Supplies (18%): AV equipment, computers, classroom supplies, PE and art supplies, materials for student construction of new desks and chairs for school and building maintenance costs.
• Transportation (12%): We have contracts with 3 part-time drivers who use their own microbuses to transport students from villages to school and back.
• Tutoring and Other Village Costs (8%): Remote schools administered by Nicolás Christian School in Villa Hortencia 1 and San Nicolás, and village tutoring of 5th and 6th graders expanded in 2017 to five villages.
• Fundraising (6%): Transportation for Fulfilling a Dream fundraiser speakers, Fulfilling a Dream fundraiser supplies, credit card processing fees, eTapestry donor database, Constant Contact e-mail service, and most office supplies.
• Management and General (5%): Part-time Virtual Assistant, Insurance and minimal office expenses.

Impact Team expenses (airfare, transportation, accommodations, meals) are not included because they are fully covered through donations to NFE by Impact Team members, who travel to Guatemala to support and encourage our students and teachers in the Ixil.

NFE makes a very conscious effort to stay focused on our mission of education. We strive to accomplish this as best we can, and must avoid distraction with other needs in the Ixil, significant though they may be. We rely on partner organizations such as Agros International and others to help meet those important needs.

NFE is finalizing our Form 990 and that will be available soon on our website and on the Guidestar website. Guidestar is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. NFE is proud to be a “Gold” rated non-profit by Guidestar.  We are working on our first Annual Report and that will also be posted on our website and on Guidestar soon. We haven’t yet been an organization long enough or have a large enough budget to be rated by Charity Navigator or EFCA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) but we will keep you informed when we do qualify for a rating.

Being good stewards of the gifts that God provides is important to us and is one of NFE’s core values as an organization.  We appreciate your feedback in our surveys and in messages, and we always take that feedback seriously. We are partners in this mission together!