Democracy for the Arab World Now Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824378001
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
2013287788
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,750,087
Expenses
$1,297,336
Assets
$506,226
Liabilities
$259,397

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH L WHITSON (EXEC. DIR./SECRETARY): $226,800 total reported compensation
  • OMID MEMARIAN (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION): $126,615 total reported compensation
  • RAED M JARRAR (ADVOCACY DIRECTOR): $125,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Democracy for the arab world now (dawn) is a nonprofit organization that supports democracy and human rights in the middle east and north africa (mena). Our vision is for a world where the human rights, liberty, and dignity of every person in the middle east and north africa are upheld by democratically elected governments, safeguarded by independent institutions and civil society organizations working under the rule of law, and supported by international governments and institutions around the world. Our goal is to ensure that u.s. Foreign policy supports the people in mena by ending support for their abusive, undemocratic governments.

What it reported doing in 2024

2024 was a year of seminal successes for dawn, garnering significant impact and recognition for our efforts in pursuit of justice and accountability in the middle east and north africa, raising the visibility of the organization as a leading center for aggressive, results-oriented projects, articulating policy recommendations that successfully resonated with the broader community, broadcasting the voices and viewpoints of activists and experts from the region into foreign policy discussions and decision-making, and succeeding in presenting dawn as the leading progressive mena foreign policy organization in Washington dc. The dawn staff carried out truly impressive work, issuing 46 press releases and 29 press advisories, 97 articles and six interviews with newsmakers for democracy in exile, and 30 public speaking engagements.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 47
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.6%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.9%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.6% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $227K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.