Rock the Vote

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1990, rock the vote is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the civic power of young people through voter registration, education and mobilization and reducing barriers to participation by modernizing the civic process and fighting for young peoples right to vote.

What it reported doing in 2024

Voter Registration Mobilization - Rock the Vote engages and mobilizes young voters through digital tools, on-the-ground organizing, and partnerships. Recognizing that voting is habit-forming, we reach young people early to build lifelong civic participation.Rock the Vote develops and maintains civic technology that guides users through voter registration, status checks, and absentee ballot requests. These secure, compliant tools are provided free to nonprofits, schools, companies, and influencers nationwide, and are integrated into our own programs.In 2024, Rock the Vote provided technology tools to 192 partners, reaching 1,885,334 voters through our Online Voter Registration platform, Registration Status Lookup, Absentee Ballot Request Platform, Pledge to Vote Tool, and Ballot Tracking and Curing Tool. We directly messaged 252,216 unregistered young voters across two states with 975,938 registration contacts and coordinated 3,500 handwritten postcards to new voters. On Election Day, staff contacted 203,791 eligible young voters unlikely to have been reached by campaigns or parties

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020767157
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027199910
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 96.9%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $149.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.7% of revenue deployed · 96.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $152K · 11 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $6M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 annual filings from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CAROLYN DEWITT (PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $152,312 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA WYATT (DIRECTOR OF CIVIC TECH AND DATA): $101,494 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.