Vermont Public Interest Research Group Inc

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1972, the Vermont public interest research group (vpirg) is the largest nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy organization in Vermont. For five decades, vpirg has brought the voices of everyday vermonters to public policy debates concerning the environment, health care, consumer protection, and democracy. Vpirg's mission is to promote and protect the health of Vermont's people, environment, and locally-based economy by informing and mobilizing individuals and communities across the state.

What it reported doing in 2024

Consumer protectionvpirg serves as a watchdog, protecting the public interest when corporations attempt to put profits over people, and ensures that the policies and laws that we do pass to protect the public interest are, in fact, enforced. In recent years, vpirg's consumer protection program has placed a specific emphasis on working for policies that protect consumers in the digital space. In 2024, vpirg supported comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation that would have given Vermont consumers greater control over if and how companies use their sensitive personal information. We also supported fair repair legislation that would have required agricultural equipment manufacturers to provide farmers and independent repair providerson fair and reasonable termsaccess to the parts, tools and information necessary to fix their equipment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030228267
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Montpelier, VT, USA
Phone
8022623742
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -44.9%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 69.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $131K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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

18 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL BURNS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,537 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.