Charter Cities
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263419697
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2009–2012
- Forms available
- Form 990 2011, Form 990-EZ 2012
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 4153507749
- Rating
- 97
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $102,567
- Expenses
- $109,984
- Assets
- $316,282
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To engage in charitable and educational activities.
What it reported doing in 2012
Charter cities is a public policy organization (in informal terms, a "think tank"). The organization's charitable and educational activities are aimed at addressing global poverty through the creation of "charter cities" and through a discussion of the importance of legal and political institutions (or "rules"). This is taking place through research, the distribution of educational materials, and technical assistance.research items include studying issues of importance that arise when proposing charter cities as a development strategy for low income countries. Research objectives often include thinking on legal, economic, and technical options for a charter city. Thus far, the organization has collaborated with practioners and academics in the fields of law, civil engineering, urban economics, political science, technology, and economic history. The distribution of educational materials is important for advancing public knowledge and education to build a global network of participants, advocates, and innovators. Distribution channels are primarily through the organization's website and blog located at http://www.chartercities.org, various media publications, and speaking engagements at conferences. Technical assistance takes place by facilitating conversations with government officials in countries interested in charter cities and improving governance.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and the available information about grant readiness automatic revocation leaves an important question unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.88; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: Limited
Growth
- Program expense growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 56.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 65.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $110K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $25K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2009 to 2012
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.