One of the most common questions we get — from both first-time donors and grant reviewers — is the same: how much of my dollar makes it into a classroom?
The honest answer is "almost all of it, and here's the exact path."
The ledger rules
Every sponsorship and project gift is tagged on entry. Tags map to a board-approved line item; line items map to a school or a program; each school and program has an owner who signs off on disbursements quarterly. Nothing moves without that sign-off, and nothing gets re-tagged after the fact.
Overhead is visible and capped
Our total operating overhead sits between 6 and 9 percent of gross donations, depending on the year. That covers bank fees, the small software stack we use, the audit, and the one half-time staff role on the U.S. side. Board members are unpaid. The detailed breakdown lives in the annual Form 990 and the yearly transparency report.
Where the questions usually land
Donors sometimes ask whether a sponsorship can be "saved up" across months. We don't do that — each month's sponsorship covers that month's tuition and meal costs for one student, and un-spent overages get reassigned at the board's quarterly review. If you want a lump-sum gift to be held back for a specific future project, label it clearly on the donate form and we'll honor that instruction.