Braver AngelsInc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133400377
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2122463942
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Family Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,651,273
- Expenses
- $4,981,750
- Assets
- $2,386,359
- Liabilities
- $285,878
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- David Blankenhorn (Pres/Exec Dir): $275,941 total reported compensation
- Andrew Stillman (Chief Tech Officer): $156,572 total reported compensation
- David Lapp (Dir Strategic Proj): $148,268 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Founded in 1987, Braver Angels, is a private, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to study and strengthen civil society. As part of its mission, the main activity is focused on the reduction of social polarization the process of society separating into mutually antagonistic groups that increasingly do not trust or understand one another. Polarization is a main reason why U.S. public life is so often dysfunctional; and is an important threat to the vitality of U.S. civil society. Braver Angels work is rooted in grassroots organizing. From the grassroots, the organization leverages its programs to impact community life and American institutions. Specifically, Braver Angels efforts are focused on Grassroots work; Academia; Media and Politics & Government. Braver Angels is a not for profit organization that is exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as other than a private foundation.
What it reported doing in 2024
Bridging Social Divides - The mission of Braver Angels is to study and strengthen U.S. civil society, with a particular focus currently on analyzing and reducing societal and political polarization in the United States. Its flagship initiative, Braver Angels, aims to study and propose ways in which Americans who disagree on social and political issues can come together in civil discourse to clarify disagreements, reduce stereotyped thinking, and identify possible areas of common ground.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 66.2%; rating input score 66
- Program expense ratio: 75%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: 11.8%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 25%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 66.2% of revenue deployed · 75% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $276K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $422K reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.