Digital Inquiry Group
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 843728101
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Palo Alto, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8022812849
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,081,232
- Expenses
- $1,959,258
- Assets
- $2,344,197
- Liabilities
- $188,351
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOEL BREAKSTONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JOEL BREAKSTONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $179,666 total reported compensation
- MARK SMITH (DIRECTOR OF ASSESSMENT): $164,190 total reported compensation
- TERESA ORTEGA (DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM): $137,532 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The digital inquiry group strengthens democracy by preparing individuals to make sense of the past and navigate our digital present.
What it reported doing in 2024
History: the digital inquiry group's "reading like a historian" curriculum and "beyond the bubble" history assessments engage students in historical inquiry and primary source analysis. These curricular materials have been downloaded over 16 million times and are used in all 50 states and around the globe. The "reading like a historian" curriculum received the james harvey robinson prize for "the most outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history in any field for public or educational purposes" from the american historical association.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 65
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.9%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $164.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.9%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 30.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 142.2% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77.9% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $180K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $290K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.