Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383259924
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
3138333935
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rehabilitative Medical Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,026,257
Expenses
$1,379,489
Assets
$97,799
Liabilities
$168,536

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LAPRISHA DANIELS (EXECUTIVE DI): $98,044 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization is known as the leader in the movement and is seen as the "go to" experts on environmental justice and sustainable redevelopment because of its knowledge and its network.

What it reported doing in 2023

Dwej focuses its efforts on reducing environmental health disparities, specifically those related to asthma, lead poisoning and cardiovascular disease (cvd). Our approaches to reducing these disparities involve combining education about impacts of environmental hazards and climate change with political action to reduce the environmental factors that lead to disease. Through our climate and energy justice work we provided over 500 energy efficiency products to families to help reduce households' energy and economic burden and increase the safety and health of their homes. Through our community engagement and education work we engaged youth in our inaugural art and awareness and advocacy through art (aaa) program where local artists and activists worked with youth to develop visual and performance art that raised awareness around student-identified and locally-relevant environmental justice issues and 43 pieces of protest art were displayed during an art exhibition. Through our policy and advocacy work we provided training workshops, technical assistance, and ongoing support to 63 detroiters to enhance their capacity to effectively advocate for a healthy environment. As a result detroiters made public comment, wrote letters and made phone calls to decision makers to voice issues and potential solutions.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -34.4%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.72; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.