Accountability Counsel

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461909035
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4152966761
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,549,775
Expenses
$3,469,705
Assets
$3,064,937
Liabilities
$680,339

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Margaux Day (President & ED)

Highest reported compensation

  • Margaux Day (President & ED): $176,163 total reported compensation
  • Samer Araabi (Research Dir): $126,675 total reported compensation
  • Megumi Tsutsui (Snr Research Assoc): $108,869 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Accountability Counsel amplifies the voices of communities around the world to protect their rights and environment. As experts in strategies to demand justice, we work alongside those whose rights, livelihoods, and environment are under threat by the worlds wealthiest, most powerful investors. We specialize in channels that amplify communities voices to be heard at the highest levels of power shifting it back to those who know the impact of an investment on their land and lives best.

What it reported doing in 2024

Communities Achievements: Continuation from page 2, Form 990Our casework this year related to projects in Lesotho, Indonesia, Haiti, Uganda, Mongolia, and Ukraine, as well as dozens of unique engagements with communities around the world seeking information and resources to use accountability offices to demand justice. In the past year, we provided advice to communities negatively impacted by mining in Zimbabwe, Colombia, Madagascar, Indonesia, and Serbia; agriculture projects in Uganda; hydropower in Nepal, Tajikistan, and Panama; infrastructure projects in Brazil, Peru, and India; and more.Policy Advocacy: Continuation from page 2, Form 990This year, our advocacy was essential to defend and advance accountability for several financial flows that risk harming the environment and human rights. Alongside key coalitions of partners, we pushed for stronger accountability policy and practice in multilateral development finance through ongoing policy reviews at development banks in Africa, Asia, Europe, and globally.Research Achievements: Continuation from page 2, Form 990This year, our team published findings from a years-long investigation into the outcomes of accountability processes, combining decades of complaint data with in-depth interviews with communities. This research is critical to determine whether the accountability system is providing meaningful remedy, and if not, what needs to change. We also launched a new Accountability Toolkit that offers step-by-step guides, complaint templates, actionable research and resources for communities and advocates, and data-driven insights from our complaint database. By combining sixteen years of accountability expertise with comprehensive global data, we are democratizing our teams knowledge and equipping more communities to defend their rights and protect the planet.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $176K · 16 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.