American Principles Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264613397
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
2025032010
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,859,846
Expenses
$4,379,951
Assets
$2,490,107
Liabilities
$518,137

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Francis Cannon (Treasurer and President Emeritus)
  • Terrence Schilling (President)
  • Anthony Labruna (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Terrence Schilling (President): $278,911 total reported compensation
  • Jon Schweppe (Director of Policy and Government Affairs): $204,989 total reported compensation
  • Francis Cannon (Treasurer and President Emeritus): $181,667 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

American Principles Project was created to promote the dignity of the human person as affirmed by America's founding principles, namely that we are all d equal, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." American Principles Project seeks to advocate for policy solutions that uphold and educate Americans about these principles, particularly as they relate to the inherent dignity of workers, parents, students and immigrants as well as the sacredness of all human life and traditional marriage.

What it reported doing in 2024

American Principles Project, through its pro-family program, advocated on behalf of the American family and engaged on issues of chief importance to families, by: pressing for and supporting laws that defend women's sports and protect children from harmful sex-change procedures, pushing for legislation to rein in Big Tech censorship, opposing the imposition of critical race theory and gender ideology in schools.

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 91% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.9%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 54.6%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 93.2%; rating input score 93; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th 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: -13.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.9% of revenue deployed · 54.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $279K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $446K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.