Fight Back Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 475289211
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Countryside, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8152543332
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Single Organization Support
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,675,214
- Expenses
- $2,637,455
- Assets
- $228,054
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMES SWEENEY (PRESIDENT)
- JEFFREY HORNE (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES SWEENEY (PRESIDENT): $565,457 total reported compensation
- DAVID FAGAN (FINANCIAL SECRETARAY): $465,250 total reported compensation
- MICHAEL KRESGE (REC CORRESPOND SECRETARY): $443,896 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Fight back fund supports research and public relations to combat anti-union initiatives, including so-called right-to-work policies, "paycheck protection" laws aimed at restricting union involvement in politics, attempts to water down or repeal prevailing wage statutes, and efforts to ban project labor agreements. Supporting such causes benefits all workers and their families. The fight back fund encourages infrastructure spending, including the need to build and repair roads , bridges, and ports. The fight back fund will develop and execute marketing and public relation campaigns designed to educate the public with regard to labor and infrastructure issues.
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 99% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 32
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.1%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 98.5%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: 1.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 31.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -9.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.1% of revenue deployed · 98.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $565K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.