Brightline Defense Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
331131608
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4152529700
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Minority Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,974,379
Expenses
$2,123,079
Assets
$1,303,001
Liabilities
$86,178

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDWARD AHN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • EDWARD AHN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $170,620 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Brightline is a policy advocacy non-profit that works to promote sustainability in otherwise vulnerable communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Environmental justice and renewable energy advocacy - brightline advocates for solar panels, energy efficiency, and other clean energy alternatives through policy development and program design, brightline advances environmental justice interests and develops clean technology markets in the bay area and California.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $171K · 6 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $100K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.