Disability Rights Advocates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943189313
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5106658644
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,886,254
Expenses
$7,362,004
Assets
$23,587,353
Liabilities
$4,608,278

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rebecca Williford (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rebecca Williford (President & CEO): $347,810 total reported compensation
  • Katherine Hamilton (COO): $308,107 total reported compensation
  • Shawna Parks (Chief Litigation Officer): $282,634 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

DRAs mission is to advance the rights, inclusion, and equity of people with disabilities through high-impact litigation, education, and advocacy. Our vision is a world free from discrimination, where people with disabilities are valued members of their communities with equal access to opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2024

DRA, a national nonprofit legal center, advocates through high impact class action litigation on behalf of people with all types of disabilities, including mobility, hearing, vision, learning and mental health. Through negotiation and litigation, DRA has made thousands of entities throughout the country accessible, eliminated discriminatory policies, and has enforced access rights for millions of people with disabilities in many key areas of life, including access to technology, education, employment, transportation and health care.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 65% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.9%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 67.5%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 6.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.2; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.9% of revenue deployed · 67.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $348K · 25 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $392K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.
  • 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 52/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.