Clean Energy Group Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 030359346
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Montpelier, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8022232554
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,233,360
- Expenses
- $2,226,536
- Assets
- $2,685,348
- Liabilities
- $712,622
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Warren Leon (CESA Executive Director)
- Seth Mullendore (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Anthony Vargo (Treasurer CFO): $241,230 total reported compensation
- Warren Leon (CESA Executive Director): $233,921 total reported compensation
- Seth Mullendore (President): $233,447 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Clean energy research and advocacy. Clean Energy Group promotes effective clean energy policies, develops low carbon technology innovation strategies and promotes new financial tools to strengthen the economy and stabilize climate change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Policy - This program includes projects to educate the public and policy experts to move beyond pricing measures such as cap and trade to develop long term, complementary climate stabilization policies that encourage massive technology innovation and deployment to drive the development of new clean energy technologies and markets.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $42.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.3%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 47.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $241K · 10 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $337K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 8 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.