Empower Montgomery Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465338549
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone
2404828110
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,072
Expenses
$43,127
Assets
$20,418
Liabilities
$1,044

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Charles Nulsen III (President)

People named in this filing

  • Charles Nulsen III (President)
  • Chris Bruch (Secretary)
  • Paul Chod (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Empower Montgomery's mission is to create positive political conditions in Montgomery County MD through voter outreach and education for expanding economic opportunity, and enhance the quality of living conditions for all residents and businesses.

What it reported doing in 2022

Empower Montgomery was established to unite individuals, communities and organizations throughout Montgomery County, MD. Its focus is to bring together those groups that already work within the community in support of affordable housing, economic development, education, environmental protection, transportation, healthcare, families and neighborhoods, and transparent and accountable government. Empower Montgomery has worked on voter outreach and education, and is focused on a long-term strategic plan to build a powerful constituency aimed at a multi-pronged, pro-economic agenda, with our core values to include job growth, expansion of the tax base, responsible government spending, AAA bond rating, world class schools, mass transit/public transportation, regional competitiveness and green sustainable practices.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -114.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -30.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -48.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -33.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $43K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2020 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.