Citizens Defending Freedom Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
863949080
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Mulberry, FL, USA
Phone
5135777380
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,852,850
Expenses
$3,886,816
Assets
$767,060
Liabilities
$525,677

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVE MAXWELL (PRESIDENT / EXEC. DIRECTOR)
  • JOHN DURHAM (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • STEVE BLACKWELDER (CEO (PART YEAR))
  • COLBY WILTSE (INTERIM CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVE MAXWELL (PRESIDENT / EXEC. DIRECTOR): $213,998 total reported compensation
  • SETH JAHN (DIRECTOR OF SECURITY): $156,264 total reported compensation
  • STEVE BLACKWELDER (CEO (PART YEAR)): $151,605 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Citizens defending freedom foundation engages in training and educational activities for county citizens. These activities consist of two key components: civic education and civic engagement.

What it reported doing in 2025

Citizens defending freedom foundation engages in training and educational activities for county citizens. These activities consist of two key components: civic education and civic engagement. Civic education - the foundation engages in educational activities designed to inform county citizens regarding local government policies and ordinances including public school curriculum, approved public school library and classroom books and materials, and city and county ordinances. The foundation informs citizens of these educational opportunities through regularly scheduled monthly meetings and special seminars and/or events at local churches and other meeting venues. The foundation provides this information to educate citizens who would not otherwise be aware of local school board policies (both existing and proposed) as well as local municipal proceedings and related agenda. Civic engagement - the foundation works to engage citizens through educational activities designed to train them with tools and knowledge they need to communicate effectively with local government regarding issues of concern to citizens, their families, and their businesses. These activities focus on helping those citizens who have not been able to obtain effective responses from, or initiate communication with, their local governments. By engaging and equipping the citizens, they can now have a part in influencing public policy at the local level.

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 85% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.7%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 33.6%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.7% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.