Advancement Project Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874702350
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027289557
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,487,100
Expenses
$6,895,902
Assets
$17,211,436
Liabilities
$1,638,653

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BROWNE DIANIS JUDITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • DAUGHERTY CARMEN (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BROWNE DIANIS JUDITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $389,791 total reported compensation
  • DAUGHERTY CARMEN (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $232,765 total reported compensation
  • DILLON JENNIFER (MANAGING DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $204,752 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Advancement project education fund is a next generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill america's promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high-impact policy change.

What it reported doing in 2024

Opportunity to learn (quality education and schoolhouse to jailhouse)our opportunity to learn program supports grassroots partners working directly with young people and community members to lead campaigns that protect access to quality public education, center the voices and needs of students, develop young people's leadership skills, and secure changes that improve educational outcomes for students of color. Our work ensures that partners have the support and resources they need, and that young people have the skills needed not only to organize and build campaigns as students, but to stay engaged as community leaders well into the future, carrying the knowledge and belief that they can effect change in their communities. We also co-lead the national police free schools campaign, helping young people advocate for the removal of police officers and their surrogates (security guards, surveillance, etc.) from their schools so that students can be their full, authentic selves in a safe space to learn.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 3rd 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: Limited
  • 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.5; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $390K · 27 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $580K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.