People's Action

Overview

Mission

People's action is organized to promote economic, racial and social equity through national, regional and local advocacy campaigns.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oadvocacy - the organization conducts advocacy and lobbying activities to support and advance national agenda for low- and moderate-income people. Our agenda is based around a range of issues affecting working people and their communities that include health care, clean energy, housing, immigration, access and affordability to higher education, and the overdose crisis and issues relating to criminalization of these communities. Achievements 2024: people's action is a primarily a public education and advocacy organization with a minority purpose program that engages everyday people in the electoral process. The public education and advocacy work focuses on three national issues: affordable and accessible healthcare, clean and affordable energy, and housing affordability and access. The training program taught everyday people how to have deep listening conversations that engage community members on potentially divisive issues in order to build relationships across lines of difference. The minority program on politics and elections focused on training candidates for public office who come out of our member organizations and on supporting affiliated 501c4 organizations on how to develop co-governance relationships with decision makers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262613701
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3122433035
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.5%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $97.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 65.8%; rating input score 66; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.5% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 annual filings from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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

12 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.