Equality Federation Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810670151
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
9293733370
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,321,226
Expenses
$5,456,773
Assets
$4,778,851
Liabilities
$218,234

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRAN HUTCHINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • DAN YONKER (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE)
  • MEL KING (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRAN HUTCHINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $240,550 total reported compensation
  • DAN YONKER (VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE): $154,903 total reported compensation
  • MEL KING (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS): $152,921 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Equality federation institute is an advocacy accelerator rooted in social justice, building power in our network of state-based lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (lgbtq+) advocacy organizations.

What it reported doing in 2025

Through our leadership & capacity strengthening program, we prioritize developing strong leaders, connecting movement advocates, and building powerful organizations that can sustain the movement for equality and justice in the states. Because of our ongoing relationships with state leaders, we are able to provide tailored support that meets their individual needs and follow them as their organizations grow. We believe that racial justice is a critical area for growth for many organizations and leaders, and we strive to integrate a racial equity perspective and strategy into all aspects of leadership and organizational development work. (continued on schedule o).we provide critical opportunities for training, peer learning, and networking through the annual equality federation institute leadership conference, which has become the movement-wide go-to gathering of 350+ state leaders and national partners; our 1:1 coaching; and regular online training opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 97.3%; rating input score 97; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.3% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $241K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $979K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 24 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 18 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.