Center for Transformative Action
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 160990318
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
- Location
- Ithaca, NY, USA
- Phone
- 6072556202
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,036,573
- Expenses
- $3,677,651
- Assets
- $3,274,600
- Liabilities
- $347,059
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHELLE THEVENIN (PRESIDENT)
- ANKE WESSELS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- ANKE WESSELS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $109,123 total reported compensation
- LISA MARSELLA (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $82,569 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 establish and conduct programs for the understanding and promotionof transformative action and its relation to social change.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization helps create communities that are socially just, ecologically sound, and work for everyone. We do this through our educational programs, and by supporting system-changing projects with incubator and fiscal sponsorship services. Our projects work to transform the structures, as well as the habits of mind, that produce inequities in our communities, country, and the world.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 72
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 99%; rating input score 99; 37th 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: 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: 8.9%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.