Democracy Builders Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464897222
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Mira Loma, CA, USA
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$0
Expenses
$2,238,930
Assets
$384
Liabilities
$2,107,261

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SETH ANDREW (CHAIR AND CEO TERMINATED 04-)

Highest reported compensation

  • SETH ANDREW (CHAIR AND CEO TERMINATED 04-): $65,500 total reported compensation
  • MARCELLINA BLOW (INTERIM CHAIR EFF 04-30-21): $10,000 total reported compensation
  • ALIZE-JAZEL SMITH (TRUSTEE): $10,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Democracy builders fund, inc is shuttered and plans to dissolve.

What it reported doing in 2020

Democracy Builders Fund, Inc. attempted, but failed to secure funding necessary to both run its newly aquired Marlboro campus and its Degrees of Freedom Program which was shuttered due to lack of funding.

Operating model

Revenue model
No positive adjusted resources. The filing reports no positive adjusted operating resources.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 54% for direct work, and 46% for grants.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 4
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 3rd 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: Limited
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 5,487.66; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 53.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 4 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2016 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.