20 Liters

97%

Four-Star Charity

Impact & Measurement

Accountability & Finance

Culture & Community

Leadership & Adaptability

20 Liters

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501(c)(3) organization

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20liters.org

2900 WILSON AVE SW STE 110

Grand Rapids MI 49418-0000

Grand Rapids MI | IRS ruling year: 2013 | EIN: 27-3378656

An EIN is a unique nine-digit number that identifies a business for tax purposes.

Organization Mission

20 Liters was created to both educate and engage the developed world about the need for clean water and to empower local communities in the developing world to meet ... (More)

Rating Information

Great

This charity's score is 97%, earning it a Four-Star rating.

This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores, weighted as follows: 44% Accountability & Finance, 56% Impact & Measurement. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.

Historical Ratings

Charity Navigator's ratings previously did not consider Leadership & Adaptability, Culture & Community, or Impact & Measurement. The historic rating mainly reflects a version of today’s Accountability and Finance score. More information on our previous rating methodologies can be found on our rating methodology page.

Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!

Review Before Proceeding—Confirmed Delinquency

This organization appears on the most recent listing of nonprofits that are delinquent with California state registrations

For more information about our alerts methodology, see here.

Please Note: In compliance with California Assembly Bill 488, we have disabled donations to this charity on our platform at this time.

Accountability & Finance

Score

94

Most Recent Fiscal Year:
FY 2023

This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.

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Key Accountability Metrics

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Majority Independent Board Members - 100% independent members

10 out of 10 points

Source: IRS Form 990

Independent Board Size - 8 independent members

10 out of 10 points

Industry professionals strongly recommend an independent governing body to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters. For most organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least three independent board members. For large, donor-funded organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least five independent board members

Source: IRS Form 990

Material Diversion of Assets - None

10 out of 10 points

A diversion of assets — any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft — also can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We review the charity's most recent IRS Form 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets.

Source: IRS Form 990

Tax Form Disclosures and Policies

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Website Listed on Tax Form - Listed

3 out of 3 points

Charity Navigator looks for a website on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.

Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.

Source: IRS Form 990

Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed

7 out of 7 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.

Source: IRS Form 990

Whistleblower Policy - Listed

7 out of 7 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.

Source: IRS Form 990

Document Retention and Destruction - Listed

7 out of 7 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.

Source: IRS Form 990

Documents Board Meeting Minutes - Yes

3 out of 3 points

Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the IRS Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.

An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.

Source: IRS Form 990

Website Disclosures

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Tax Form Posted on Nonprofit's Website as stated on Form 990 - Listed

3 out of 3 points

For almost all charities, we check the charity's IRS Form 990 to see if it discloses that the Form 990 is available on the charity's website. As with the audited financial statement, donors need easy access to this financial report to help determine if the organization is managing its financial resources well.

Source: IRS Form 990

Financial Metrics

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Liabilities to Assets: Ratio - 18.82%

15 out of 15 points

The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent IRS Form 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization's solvency and/or long-term sustainability.

Source: IRS Form 990

Program Expense: Ratio - 64.94%

19 out of 25 points

The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three IRS Forms 990). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.

Source: IRS Form 990

Additional Information

Total Revenue and Expenses - Data Available

This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.

Salary of Key Persons - Data Available

Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting

Amanda Mulder, Director Of Outreachsecretar

$48,488

Christopher Kragt, Director Of Programs And Oper

$38,219

Ben Fergus, Director

Sydney Bollaert, Director

Michael Yoder, Director

Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2023

IRS Published Data (Business Master File) - Data Available

Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website

Foundation Status:

Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)

Affiliation:

Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)

Data Sources (IRS Forms 990) - Data Available

The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage accountability and finance data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (20 Liters) or EIN (273378656) in the 'Search Term' field.

Impact & Measurement

Score

100

This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.

Learn more

Assessments

Impact

100 out of 100 points

100% of Impact & Measurement score

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Impact Evaluation

100 out of 100 points

Impact Statement

The nonprofit's cost to provide clean water is less than 75% of the local costs.

Program Context

Clean Water Initiative: This program distributes water purification systems to beneficiaries.

Data Time Period

7/1/16 to 6/30/17

Benchmark for Scoring

Impact scores of water purification programs are based on the cost to provide clean water relative to the market cost that a person incurs to buy water in that country. Programs receive an Impact score of 100 if they provide water for less than 75% of the estimated market costs, and a score of 80 if they do so for less than 125%. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65. This program's cost to provide clean water is less than 75% of the local costs.

Methodology

This impact score was determined through the Water Purification methodology which is fully detailed in the Charity Navigator Guide to Ratings. Analysis conducted in 2019 by Charity Navigator's acquired branch, ImpactMatters, using publicly available data from nonprofits and IRS forms 990, theory and evidence from scientific research studies.

Data Source

Outcome and cost data collected via publicly available reports and financial statements.

Measurement

Unscored

0% of Impact & Measurement score

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Rating Information

Rating Report

94

Key Accountability Metrics

Tax Form Disclosures and Policies

Website Disclosures

Financial Metrics

Additional Information

100

Assessments

Impact

100 out of 100 points

Measurement

Unscored