Democracy 21

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521948022
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2023559600
Rating
47
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$101,535
Expenses
$84,775
Assets
$32,812
Liabilities
$11,366

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRED WERTHEIMER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

People named in this filing

  • FRED WERTHEIMER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • ROGER WITTEN (DIRECTOR)
  • DONALD SIMON (VICE CHAIR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Renew & reform our political system & government.

What it reported doing in 2025

Advocacy of democracy reforms, including campaign finance, voting rights and redistricting reforms, advocacy of accountability for those who seek to undermine the integrity of elections, and advocacy of the rule of law, fair and free elections, and a political system free of undue influence by monied interests.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.5%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.