Finding Common Purpose Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200703238
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lexington, MA, USA
Phone
6176491522
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,132,511
Expenses
$2,415,358
Assets
$510,343
Liabilities
$178,634

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN RODRIGUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & PRESI)

Highest reported compensation

  • COLETTE STANZLER (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $197,866 total reported compensation
  • ERIN RODRIGUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & PRESI): $189,854 total reported compensation
  • CONSUELA GREENE (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $175,391 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Root cause is a nonprofit research and consulting firm that partners with nonprofits, philanthropies, government, and businesses to advance solutions to today's toughest social issues.

What it reported doing in 2025

Our advisory and education practice offers an array of services designed to help our partners in the nonprofit, philanthropic and government sectors to: design and advance collective action projects; assess and strengthen practices of measurement, learning and improvement; and plan and execute strategies that enable people to succeed from one life stage to the next. In addition, the organization works directly with community providers, along with individuals and families, in order to shape policies and services and learn how people experience barriers to success based on race, class, gender and/or geography. The organization also develops research, data, case studies, and tools to support mission-driven organizations and their effors to improve people's lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 38.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 69.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $198K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.