Financial Technology Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853790227
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025948014
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,817,476
Expenses
$3,174,642
Assets
$2,142,575
Liabilities
$2,181,815

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PENNY LEE (CEO/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PENNY LEE (CEO/PRESIDENT): $855,359 total reported compensation
  • ANGELENA BRADFIELD (HEAD OF POLICY): $377,193 total reported compensation
  • MIRANDA MARGOWSKY (HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS): $251,929 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Educate consumers, regulators, policymakers, and industry stakeholders on the value of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and innovation to advance the development of trusted, digital financial markets and services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fta educated and informed policy-makers and the public on issues related to technology-centered financial services. It accomplished this through drafting a comprehensive white paper, comment letters, press releases, media relations, engaging policymakers, attending conferences, speaking on panels, and growing membership.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.02; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 56.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.9% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $855K · 22 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $695K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.