1882 Project Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461144885
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
7038646832
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$707,974
Expenses
$568,166
Assets
$820,184
Liabilities
$11,127

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TED GONG (CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & TREASURER)
  • ELAINE GIN (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/INTERNSHIP PROGRAM DIRECTOR)
  • YILIN ZHANG (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • TED GONG (CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & TREASURER)
  • TING-YI OEI (SECRETARY AND EDUCATION DIRECTOR)
  • AMY NGA TRANG PHD MED (SENIOR DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The 1882 foundation promotes public awareness of the chinese exclusion laws and broadens public understanding of the laws, their history, and relevance today. We promote and support programs and projects that preserve and interpret the history of chinese contributions in forming and enriching america.

What it reported doing in 2025

The sacramento expansion project is a 3-year project funded by the mellon foundation to expand the summit tunnel camp heritage tour program by establishing an office in sacramento chinatown while strengthening operations in the dc chinatown headquarter office. This project also includes a feasibility study for program maintenance and sustainability purposes. A new office was established in sacramento july 1, 2025 with an office launch event on august 8, 2025 with the unveiling of the national historic landmark plaque for summit tunnel camp. A mini-tour to summit tunnel camp was provided on august 9, 2025. Over 200 individuals participated in the two-day event.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 87.8%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $67.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.44; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 34.3% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.1% of revenue deployed · 87.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $499K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.