Equal Voice Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465265322
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2067352224
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Coalitions

Reported finances

Revenue
$115,626
Expenses
$334,034
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joyce Lee (President)
  • David Luna (Executive Director)
  • Star Smith (Vice-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Joyce Lee (President): $161,750 total reported compensation
  • Laura Boyle (Secretary): $124,695 total reported compensation
  • David Luna (Executive Director): $104,848 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To engage, connect, and build power among poor and low-income families to influence policies that improve the economic and social well-being of all families. We believe families are the experts on the issues that affect their daily lives and are, therefore, the best solution providers. We believe that families, united, will change the policies that perpetuate poverty.

What it reported doing in 2020

Community Based Pilot Projects - During the first quarter of 2020, Equal Voice Action continued its community-based project with Ubuntu Village in Louisiana. Ubuntu Village sought to engage court-involved families and allies as shared Ubuntu/EVA members, support them through direct advocacy services, and train and mobilize them as "Parent Navigators" and community leaders who can lead knowledge-building, community organizing, and collective advocacy for policy change.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 67
  • Sustainability: 1
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -188.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -20.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -19.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $303K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 10 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2015 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.