C40 Cities

Legal name: C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900634376
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6463249209
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$73,614,205
Expenses
$69,615,007
Assets
$43,927,306
Liabilities
$4,394,511

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL R BLOOMBERG (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)
  • Kevin Austin (Deputy Executive Director)
  • Mark Watts (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mark Watts (Executive Director): $258,785 total reported compensation
  • Aditi Maheshwari (Managing Director of Climate Action Implementation): $234,502 total reported compensation
  • Kevin Austin (Deputy Executive Director): $220,892 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To help cities around the world collaboratively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate resilience, supporting mayors in delivering bold climate action and driving global change.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, C40 cities implemented 73 additional climate actions, taking the total number of actions to 1200. This contributed to a reduction of 7.5% of C40's collective GHG emissions in 2024 compared to 2015. In 2024, approx 75% of C40 cities reduced their emissions faster than their national government. In 2024, CHAMP initiative, designed to build further collaboration between national and subnational governments reached 74 signatories representing 36% of global emissions. SEE SCHEDULE O FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.2%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $495.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 76.2% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $56.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.