Minnesota · Nonprofit
EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE
EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE (Minnesota) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,154,771 to it, the largest being ALIGHT ($3,636,604). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $8.2M
- Net assets
- $5.6M
What Eastern Congo Initiative does
Mission
Eastern Congo Initiative (eci) is the first u.s. Based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of the democratic republic of congo (drc). Eci's mission is to increase the quality and quantity of investments into drc through supporting innovative congolese led solutions, developing collaborative partnerships, and driving increased attention and public policy change through grassroots advocacy and highly targeted media activities. We envision a vibrant drc abundant with opportunities for economic and social development, where a robust civil society can flourish. Eci believes that local, community-based approaches are essential to creating a sustainable and successful society in eastern congo. We believe that public and private partnerships combined with advocacy drives increased attention and public policy change, creating new opportunities for the people of drc.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Grantmaking, building markets, and advocacy: eci works with the most innovative community-based organizations in eastern drc to find congolese solutions to congolese challenges. We provide grants and administrative support to help our partner organizations create sustainable opportunities for economic development, access to justice, maternal and child health, and access to education and information. We connect congolese farmers with global markets for coffee and cocoa. And we advocate relentlessly, in the u.s. And around the world, to increase the quality and quantity of investment in the limitless potential of the drc.
$2,164,410 spentof which $586,927 as grants61% of program spendingWater activities: through our asili social enterprise platform, eci provides affordable, consistent access to clean water at membership-based kiosks in south kivu.
$911,730 spent$147,851 earned by the program26% of program spendingHealth activities: another asili service is world-class primary healthcare services at community clinics, at prices local families can afford.
$487,307 spent$58,273 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,563,447.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $1.6M to $4.3M (+175%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 48% · 2022 17% · 2023 26%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
73% of EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Abraham Leno
Executive director (until 11/24)
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 16 funders, grant income fell $806k → $302k.
15 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
83% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 91% · 2019 79% · 2020 94% · 2021 50% · 2022 27% · 2023 12% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
27% of EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
76% of EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
41% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- Eastern Congo Initiative - Democratic Republic of Congo (Drc) · exempt
- Alight · exempt
- Questscope Ltd · exempt
- Questscope · exempt
- Oram - Organization for Refugee Asylum & Migration · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE?
- EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE (Minnesota) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,154,771 to it, the largest being ALIGHT ($3,636,604). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $8,154,771 in grants to EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE?
- ALIGHT is the largest funder on record, with $3,636,604 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Eastern Congo Initiative →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 40 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing