Equal Rights Advocates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237217027
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155752398
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,185,104
Expenses
$4,475,980
Assets
$7,265,802
Liabilities
$2,492,281

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NOREEN FARRELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NOREEN FARRELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $269,370 total reported compensation
  • MELVINA FORD (NATIONAL LEGAL DIRECTOR): $226,926 total reported compensation
  • DELIA COLEMAN (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $209,203 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 protect and expand educational and economic opportunities for women and girls and others with marginalized gender identities. With a focus on low income women, era addresses economic insecurity, gender based violence, workplace inequities, childcare, and the needs of working families.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legal advocacy, services, & enforcement - era provides free legal advice and counseling as well as legal representation to students and workers in need across the nation. Through impact litigation and other enforcement strategies, era challenges sex harassment discrimination at work and school and other unlawful conduct violating civil and constitutional rights. Building on 50+ years of groundbreaking legal work, including cases up to the supreme court, era leads groundbreaking cases affirming rights and confirming its reach to those most impacted by inequities.era leads state and national collaborative impact campaigns/networks with 500+ organizational partners to build power behind mission-aligned system reform. These include, stronger California advocates network, equal pay today, the stop harassment state network (collectively, women's agenda initiatives) and the national taskforce on tradeswomen issues, which became a project of era in 2024. In the past decade alone, era has helped drive the passage of 66 laws in California and 183 laws nationwide benefitting 30 million in advancing workplace equity, poverty alleviation and wealth generation, the needs of working families, and reproductive health care.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.62; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.9% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 33 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.