Behavioral Ideas Lab Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271678009
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
6463305700
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Social Science

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,958,819
Expenses
$17,493,077
Assets
$21,086,267
Liabilities
$3,552,106

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIDGETTE GRAY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (FROM 2/24))
  • JOSHUA WRIGHT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 6/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIDGETTE GRAY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (FROM 2/24)): $295,233 total reported compensation
  • PIYUSH TANTIA (CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER): $227,735 total reported compensation
  • EVELYN STARK (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $226,626 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ideas42 uses behavioral science - the science of human behavior - to improve lives, build better systems, and drive social change. We work across mutually reinforcing issue areas including: promoting access to quality post-secondary education and healthcare, advancing economic and legal justice, and strengthening civic engagement. Across all programs, we envision a future where applied behavioral science fosters optimal health, equitable opportunity, and environments and systems that are sustainable and just for all - especially those with the least.

What it reported doing in 2024

Global health: we're transforming global health by giving their partners new and effective ways to structure health programs, share health information and resources, and solve persistent health problems based on how people behave in the real world. By better understanding how and why people make the choices they do, we've brought about incremental and large-scale behavior changes that have improved maternal and child health, reproductive health, infectious diseases, and gender-based violence. Working with human behavior rather than against it, enables many more women to lead healthy and fruitful lives, contributing more to their families and communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 78.7%; rating input score 79; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -59.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $13.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $295K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $327K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 35 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 33 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 18 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.