LIFT-THE-LID
Lift the Lid on Poverty and Discover Limitless Potential
Learn how to support this organization
LIFT-THE-LID
EIN: 27-2974363
as of November 2023
as of November 13, 2023
Mission
Lift the Lid raises money to improve the education of underfunded schools and publishes the students' personal essays and poems on our website. We share the students' work with our donors and provide them the opportunity to leave positive comments. Funds raised by Lift the Lid go toward constructing classrooms and facilities, supplying textbooks, paper and pens, lunches, uniforms, sports equipment, instruments, music lessons, and sanitary pads. We also set up scholarship funds to offset orphaned students' school fees. 100% of donations go toward our mission. We believe writing and self-expression build confidence, help children develop a sense of who they are, and give them hope for the future.
Notes from the nonprofit
Lift the Lid, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that funds projects to support and develop the schools we sponsor and the students who attend them. Our schools are often the only hope for children brimming with talent and the desire to learn, and we emphasize girls’ education in particular. In addition to our commitment to the schools, we believe encouraging the students to be creative instills confidence and hope. It also sends the message that we care. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to reveal the hidden talent in children and to show them a better future. Our two-fold mission, investing in our schools and the students by sharing their essays and poems, is a comprehensive, long-term approach to a happy and healthy life.
Ruling year
2014
Founder/President
Mrs. Sara J Goff
Main address
29 Ferry Ln E
Westport, CT 06880 USA
EIN
27-2974363
Education
Libraries
Community and economic development
Human rights
Human services
Population served
Children and youth
Adults
Women and girls
People of African descent
Economically disadvantaged people
NTEE code
International Development, Relief Services (Q30)
Arts Education/Schools (A25)
Printing, Publishing (A33)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
In the rural villages of Kenya, less than half of all children complete secondary school and the majority of the school drop-outs are girls. (70% of illiterate persons in Kenya are women.) Still, many girls are circumcised and married off before they reach the age of 13. Our Kenyan schools (Mogonjet, Lenana, and Namelok) have an urgent wish list: they can’t provide their students with transportation and without proper science and computer labs, the world feels out of reach. An estimated 70,000 children in Manila sleep on the streets. The commercial district Cubao is home to many prostituted street kids and children-at-risk who are in conflict with the law. Street families park carts in city alleys and their kids roam the busy streets playing, begging, and looking for work. The School in a Cart provides a safe place for the children to find love, nourishment, and school help. We are building a scholarship fund for their education after high school.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Kitchen in a Cart
On December 5th, 2013, Lift the Lid sent $479.86 in donations to The School in a Cart in Cubao, the Philippines. In addition to new uniforms for the students, we were able to purchase a new stove, new sinks, and a ‘Kitchen in a Cart’ to accompany the School. To these street children, basics such as a clean place to wash up and a table to eat on are considered luxuries.
The Kitchen in a Cart program succeeds the Breakfast in a Cart fundraiser we initiated in 2012. Both programs serve the local street children on 20th Avenue in Cubao, Quezon City. The primary goal in these programs is to keep the children attending and performing their best in school.
Runners of the Kenyan Lunchbox
October 2014, Lift the Lid, a 501(c)(3) charity, ran a 10k in London's Regent's Park to raise money for a lunch program at Namelok Junior Academy in Kisamis, Kenya, feeding 88 primary-aged boys & girls. We believe a well-balanced lunch is critical to education.
The best way we can help the students of Namelok Junior Academy to learn, grow, and succeed in life is to give them a healthy lunch everyday. The best way we can help the school is to develop self-sustaining projects, such as agriculture. Our fundraise will also go towards planting vegetables, maize potatoes, and beans.
Here’s the cost breakdown: £1100 ($1800) to build a kitchen and £2000 ($3200) for 88 lunches for one school year, or 200 days, at £10 ($16) per day. Our goal: £3000 ($5000).
A plan has been drawn up between Namelok and Lift the Lid for building and stocking the kitchen, as well as for planting a garden. The kitchen is currently under construction. The lunch program with begin in January of 2015.
Partnership with Uk-based Mooncups Ltd.
Provided 30 reusable menstrual cups to Lenana Girls High School in Kitale, Kenya.
Partnership with Kenya-based BRCK
Starting November of 2016, Namelok Junior Academy in Kisamis, Kenya will receive 40 educational tablets, supplied by BRCK, a Kenyan-based technology company. BRCK will also set up Wi-Fi connectivity and provide initial training for teachers and students.
Partnership with Connecticut-based Darien Book Aid Plan
Darien Book Aid has shipped three large boxes of age-appropriate, culturally diverse books to our Kenyan schools.
Library Project - 2017
A little background on our Library Project: In 2013, Mogonjet Secondary School in Bomet County, Kenya received a local government grant of KES 900,000 ($8,700) to build a library that would serve the school and local community. The amount was enough to build a roof and beams, but not enough for the floor, walls, windows, shelves, desks, tables and chairs. More funding was promised, but to no avail, until at last the school was advised that they would not receive the balance to complete the project.
Mogonjet’s administration, teachers, and students were shocked to receive the bad news, as they had been anticipating a library for years. We are proposing to complete the construction of the library, including shelves, desks, tables and chairs. We are also working to stock the library through our partnership with Darien Book Aid Plan and from other book donations.
The Library Project – A Solution
Attendance at Mogonjet stands at 143 students, with close to a 50% gender distribution. There are no other nearby libraries of the type we are proposing at Mogonjet – that is, a library designed to serve both the school and the community. The closest library to the school is three miles away, but is privately run for the students and staff of another school. The estimated number of people who would benefit from the library is 3400.
Student academic performance will improve with access to information and with the boost to morale. Students, parents, siblings, and community members will have a quiet place to study, read, and meet for lectures. The library will create jobs and provide income to the school by offering lectures and training on technology, literacy, nutrition, sustainable farming, and child rearing. By increasing the level of education and decreasing unemployment, we believe a library could, over time, bring an end to the poverty in Bomet County.
Visit our website for more information: http://www.lift-the-lid.org/2017/11/help-us-build-a-library/
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of schools established in rural communities
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, People of African descent, People of Asian descent, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Library Project - 2017
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Lift the Lid supports the long-term development of three schools in western Kenya, a children's center in Metro Manila, the Philippines, and an orphanage in Nkoaranga, Tanzania.
Number of competition entrants
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
LTL holds yearly writing competitions at our schools. Open to 800+ students, finalists are then chosen, as noted here. *We paused due to COVID, but 2023 participants expect to meet pre-COVID numbers.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Education: For every donation of $20 or more, a student writes a poem or personal essay for the donor. Donors are then encouraged to leave a positive comment for the student on our website. One of the first things Lift the Lid does for the schools we sponsor is bring them out of obscurity.
Support: Lift the Lid will continue its support until there are enough classrooms and desks, notebooks and pencils, textbooks, computers, lunches, uniforms, sports equipment and buses for the students. We are in for the long-haul.
Contact Persons: We are in regular communication with each school’s contact person. We will support each school as long as the appointed contact person remains at the school or an approved new contact person takes his/her place. We require a minimum year-long relationship with each contact person prior to sponsorship and sufficient references.
Grass-roots: We will not do the work or send people to do the work of the schools we sponsor. We only sponsor grass-roots organizations run by people within the community.
Operating Costs: We will fund, out-of-pocket, all technology to scan and email the students’ writing and to take photographs of the students and the schools’ progress. 100% of donations go to the schools we sponsor.
Onsite: We will make visits to each school, organize volunteers, and/or have local contacts onsite to monitor how donations are spent.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Fundamental ways Lift the Lid raises funds for the schools we sponsor and educates the students, communities, and greater world on the importance of writing and self-expression are:
• Encouraging creative and personal writing and hosting Lift the Lid’s Annual Writing & Poetry Competitions at Mogonjet Secondary School, Lenana Girls' High School, Namelok Junior Academy in Kenya; Happy Family Children's Village in Tanzania; and The School in a Cart in the Philippines
•Publishing the students' writings, recognizing their work, and providing positive feedback
• Holding fundraising events for the schools we sponsor
• Registering/partnering with other nonprofit organizations: Common Ground for Africa, Grace Foundation International, Mooncups Ltd, Darien Book Aid, Osiligi Charity Projects, and The Small Things
• Using social media to promote and raise funds for Lift the Lid
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Sara Goff, the Founder of Lift the Lid, has over 20 years experience writing, participating in writing workshops, leading writing workshops, and speaking on writing to students from grade school level to college. She is passionate about the power of the written word, and she believes wholeheartedly in the students Lift the Lid supports.
Lift the Lid has established a loyal Board of Directors comprised of successful, like-minded individuals with diverse skill-sets. We are always looking for new ways to raise money and awareness for the schools Lift the Lid sponsors and to further encourage the students to explore their writing voice.
Lift the Lid is highly selective in choosing the schools it will support to ensure absolute trust and shared values in education. Our primary criteria is that one of the Board Members has a personal relationship with the school. If the relationship is new, we take at least a year to get to know the school and our contact there. Either we travel to the school, we know someone personally connected to the school on a daily basis, or we ask a partner or volunteer to visit the school on our behalf.
Sara is progressing projects, publishing essays and in touch with the schools on a daily basis. One hundred percent of all funds raised go the schools Lift the Lid supports (with no salaries or compensation drawn and all fees and operational costs paid out of pocket.) We send funds on a project by project basis.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our progress is best experienced on our website, where you can read our students' essays and poems: https://www.lift-the-lid.org/
Results and Testimonies: https://www.lift-the-lid.org/features/results-and-testimonies/
Featured Students: https://www.lift-the-lid.org/features/our-featured-students/
Donations and Finances : https://www.lift-the-lid.org/our-mission/your-contributions/
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Financial data
LIFT-THE-LID
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Founder/President
Mrs. Sara J Goff
Author Sara Goff spent seven years as a New York City fashion designer and merchandiser before leaving her career to make a difference in the world. She founded the global educational charity Lift the Lid, Inc. in 2010, which supports underprivileged schools long-term and encourages students to exercise their creative expression through writing.
Sara attended Sewanee Writers’ Conference and received two fellowships to Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia and Nairobi, Kenya. While living in Manhattan, she especially loved her work as a writing instructor for Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Writers Workshop, founded by author Ian Frazier, and for The National Arts Club’s creative writing program for students. She has spoken on such topics as volunteer work and finding purpose in life, and the writing process and the power of the written word. She is also the founder of Bridging Minds Collective.
All proceeds from her novel "I Always Cry at Weddings" go toward Lift the Lid.
LIFT-THE-LID
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
LIFT-THE-LID
Board of directorsas of 10/16/2023
Board of directors data
Mrs. Sara Goff
Lift the Lid, Inc.
Term: 2010 -
Mr. Jonas Nilsson
Cinven Limited
Term: 2010 -
Michiel Kotting
Accel Partners
Caroline Coleman
Self-Employed
Cherry Provost
Retired
Dario Avram
Kirkland Ellis
Anna Linderum
Paulson & Co
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
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