Center for the Study of Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521000466
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024543041
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$28,321,113
Expenses
$27,341,536
Assets
$19,271,432
Liabilities
$4,622,500

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KALLAUR PAUL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KALLAUR PAUL (PRESIDENT): $565,164 total reported compensation
  • WIN PHYO (WEBMASTER): $383,905 total reported compensation
  • BRASLER KEVIN (EXECUTIVE EDITOR): $352,932 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Research, investigate, develop information, educate and inform the public government officials, service providers and others directly & through relationships with others on the performance, quality availability & costs of service providers, including retailers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Consumers' checkbook publications and researchconsumers' checkbook publishes and disseminates information to help consumers choose and effectively use high-quality, cost-effective providers in areas such as healthcare, home repair, automobile servicing, pet care, and personal finance. We do not accept advertising in our publications. In addition, we share consumer information through podcasts (consumerpedia), radio, television, and collaborations with other media organizations. Our research includes consumer surveys, regulatory reviews, analysis of industry best practices, blind shopping, and use of public databases to study service industries and provide reliable consumer guidance. Our publication serves 60,000 subscribers in seven major metropolitan areas. The public can access a significant amount of free consumer information through our website checkbook.org, which had visits from over 500,000 non-subscribers in 2024, and through our media collaborations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 20th 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: 3.5%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.8% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $22.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $565K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.