Disability Rights Mississippi

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
640666919
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Jackson, MS, USA
Phone
6019680600
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,023,232
Expenses
$2,009,142
Assets
$410,564
Liabilities
$357,428

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • POLLY TRIBBLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • POLLY TRIBBLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $112,503 total reported compensation
  • BEVERLY SHERIFF (CFO): $87,743 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote, protect and advocate for the legal and human rights of all people with disabilities, and to assist them with full inclusion in home, community, education and employment.

What it reported doing in 2024

During fiscal year 2025, disability rights Mississippi (drms) broadened its individual casework, strengthened systemic advocacy for people with disabilities, enhanced outreach and public education, and expanded collaboration with disability advocacy and service partners to advance its mission of protecting and promoting the rights of mississippians with disabilities. Drms represented clients across a wide range of disabilities and legal issues, handling 159 individual cases, conducting 78 representative payee reviews, and completing 450 beneficiary interviews. The agency also provided disability rights information and referrals to 662 individuals and engaged in over 20 projects, including committee participation, trainings, outreach, and systems advocacy. In addition, drms conducted in-depth reviews of representative payees for the social security administration.fiscal year 2025 was marked by unprecedented funding challenges. Agency appropriations were withheld for several months, requiring difficult operational decisions. For the first time in drms history, all programs temporarily ceased accepting new cases. Funding limitations also necessitated a pause in travel, reducing monitoring frequency, and forced drms to close or decline litigation in several instances. Despite these challenges, the agency maintained respectable case numbers compared to prior years.the drms board remained actively engaged in budgetary and policy oversight and approved priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The agency welcomed new board members and several new staff members. Drms expanded its reach through digital platforms, with the website receiving 22,016 visits and its facebook, twitter, and youtube channels reaching a combined 4,232 followers and subscribers. Staff conducted outreach as capacity allowed and distributed approximately 6,000 promotional and educational materials throughout the year. Drms exhibited at several conferences, sharing information on agency services, voting rights, and self-advocacy. Staff participated in professional development opportunities. Notably, drms presented a session on rights in higher education at the Mississippi disability megaconference for people with developmental disabilities, attended by approximately 300 participants.protection and advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities (padd): - handled 53 individual cases. - represented individuals seeking to transition from facilities to the community. - continued to visit state and private facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to monitor conditions, investigate concerns, and assist with transitions to less restrictive environments. - conducted investigations of allegations of abuse and neglect involving people with developmental disabilities. - investigated several incidents of abuse and neglect in a facility.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $45.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 0.7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.