Better Markets Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 272227363
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2026186464
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Economics
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,308,388
- Expenses
- $4,608,094
- Assets
- $3,300,731
- Liabilities
- $623,290
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DENNIS M KELLEHER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DENNIS M KELLEHER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $467,716 total reported compensation
- BENJAMIN SCHIFFRIN (DIR OF SECURITIES POLICY): $383,498 total reported compensation
- STEPHEN W HALL (LEGAL DIR & SECURITIES SPECIALIST): $334,890 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To promote the public interest in the domestic and global capital and commodity markets, with an initial primary focus on the rulemaking arising from the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act as well as related global financial regulation.
What it reported doing in 2025
Study, research, analyze and discuss (at conferences and otherwise) how financial markets work, the role of markets, and the role of regulations in the financial system within the us and globally. Writing and filing comment letters on proposed rules and meeting with regulators and others in connection with proposed rules and/or future proposed and/or final rules regarding financial reform and financial regulation.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 87
- Sustainability: 18
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.1%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 52.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 93.1% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $468K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.