Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 873636370
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
- Location
- Novato, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4154642500
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $36,246,768
- Expenses
- $19,398,303
- Assets
- $17,975,646
- Liabilities
- $880,904
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KATHARINE KATIE REDFORD (CO-PRES/CO-CEO & CO-ED)
- BETSY J APPLE (CO-PRES/CO-CEO & CO-ED)
- ALFRED LAHAI BROWNELL (FOUNDING PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- RHEA SUH (DIRECTOR (THRU 04/25)): $732,783 total reported compensation
- LAUREN MCCLELLAND (CFO (THRU 04/25)): $412,083 total reported compensation
- JANELLE CAVANAGH (DIRECTOR (THRU 04/25)): $367,211 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of ecgcld is to provide funding, technical and legal help to community members and leaders.
What it reported doing in 2024
The mission of ecgcld is to provide funding, technical, and legal assistance to community members and leaders, with the specific purpose of engaging in charitable activities that promote environmental and community health initiatives.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 88% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 45.5%; rating input score 45
- Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $96.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98%; rating input score 98; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 10th 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: 46.5%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 119.4% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 118.9% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 45.5% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $733K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 84 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 91 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: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.