Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853438473
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
9732866176
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,459,793
Expenses
$3,833,084
Assets
$1,544,287
Liabilities
$197,109

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLINTON LACEY (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CLINTON LACEY (CEO): $273,747 total reported compensation
  • LORENZO HARRISON (COO): $183,406 total reported compensation
  • JAMES HARTMAN (CFO): $162,059 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cm3 was founded to help youth and families break the cycle and long-term impact of justice system involvement by supporting and advancing credible messenger initiatives in the communities across the nation. Cm3 believes that credible messengers - indigenous natural leaders who share similar life experiences with current justice involved young people - are uniquely equipped and positioned to have transformative impact on an individual, family, community and systemic level. Therefore, to break the cycle of mass incarceration and address long-term impacts on young people of color, cm3 works to build community capacity by recruiting, training, credentialing, and supporting credible messengers to lead the movement for justice transformation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mentoring program: cm3 provides a credible messenger mentoring model, training curricula, capacity building, technical assistance, and ongoing support to community-based organizations and their government partners in communities seeking to implement and advance credible messenger work. Cm3 is currently operating in the jackson, Mississippi; los angeles, California; houston, Texas; jersey city, New Jersey; South Carolina; new orleans, Louisiana; orlando, Florida; columbus, Ohio; New York, New York; and, atlanta, Georgia markets with visions of expanding to other areas of need in the near future.

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 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 66
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.1%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $126.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 8th 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: -10.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 59.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 35.3% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $274K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $156K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.