Capital Sisters International Inc

“Patricia foley hinnen, president, is married to britt hinnen, secretary. Neither individual receives compensation from the organization.”

“A third party accounting firm prepares the draft 990, which is then reviewed by management. The final draft 990 is submitted to the board for review and comment, and revised if necessary, prior to submission.”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed periodically by the board and compliance forms are submitted annually.”

“The organization's ceo works on a pro bono basis but her notional salary was developed and approved by the independent directors of the board and based on comparable industry data. The organization has no employees who would be classified as key employees based on salary level.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“Each of the reported transactions is the purchase of zero-interest bonds issued by the organization for the purpose of funding its core mission of making loans to microfinance organizations. All bonds issued hold the same terms and the directors and officers have no rights or benefits that differ from any other investors. The organization considers it desireable for its officers and directors to purchase bonds as a sign of confidence in its investment program.”

“Capital sisters' primary program is to fund micro loans with investment capital. The capital we have invested in the field is the best representation of our impact, yet this is not illustrated as program impact in the form 990. During the current year, we funded $950,000 of new micro loans in guatemala and the philippines. If investment resources were counted towards program services/impact on the form 990, the share of program services would increase from 70% to 93% of the organization's resource footprint. The organization's program services have consistently represented 90% or more of the organization's outlays over the past 5 years, and an average of 89% over the last decade of the fund's 13-year history. This demonstrates the dilemma faced by non-profit investment funds when reporting their impact on the form 990. Program related investments do not count as impact because the funds are loaned and not expended, even if investing is the organization's core mission. The statement of functional expenses in part ix also does not include $366,279 of in-kind expenses, approximately 92% ($335,953) of which are program related. The organization's annual audits do credit pro bono items towards the program services ratio. According to the 2024 audit, the program related expenses for 2024 represent 82% of total expenses, not 70% as reported on this form 990. In-kind expenses include the ceo's entire salary (70% of which is program related) and legal counsel in support of the program related investments.”

“The organization did not change either its oversight process or selection process during the tax year.”

“Capital friends international, inc. Is the supporting organization for capital sisters international inc, and its sole purpose is to raise funds for capital sisters and oversee the capital reserve account that backs the investment fund. Capital sisters controls capital friends and as such it normally reports the financial accounts of the two organizations on a consolidated basis. At the end of 2024 capital friends had $84,524 of net assets.”