Focus For Democracy

Legal name: Focus for Democracy Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
933922232
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
3129618541
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,253,054
Expenses
$6,738,922
Assets
$12,369,757
Liabilities
$702,384

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AARON FRANK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER ANTONOW (TREASURER, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $92,109 total reported compensation
  • AARON FRANK (PRESIDENT): $91,229 total reported compensation
  • DAVID ORR (PRINCIPAL): $76,023 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Strengthening our democracy with impactful donations. We apply rigorous, metrics-based research to recommend programs that will have the highest impact for each dollar spent.

What it reported doing in 2025

Received donor contributions and allocated funds in support of pro-democracy organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 76% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.84; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -62.3% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -108.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 91.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $122K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 16 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.