Business Action Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832618697
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
North Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone
3019650280
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,408
Expenses
$52,421
Assets
$383,283
Liabilities
$20,385

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD TRENT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SINCE APRIL 2024)
  • CHANDA CAUSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL FEBRUARY 2024)
  • DAVID BORRIS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD TRENT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SINCE APRIL 2024): $136,166 total reported compensation
  • CHANDA CAUSER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL FEBRUARY 2024): $30,669 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Business action fund supports its flagship project, main street action, to advocate and lobby for small business interests and to support business owners to advocate for their own interests by telling their own stories about what makes their businesses successful and what types of policies would help their businesses thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Main street alliance: business action fund dba main street action continued to advocate on behalf of small businesses across our core issue areas to advance policy that can improve local economies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.4%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 54%; rating input score 54
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.1%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.31; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -33.3% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.4% of revenue deployed · 54% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 3 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: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.