Foundation for Civic Leadership Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
320020584
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
8579285012
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,406,626
Expenses
$2,308,186
Assets
$5,356,369
Liabilities
$7,719,612

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN TYLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 10/24))
  • SUE HEILMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 11/24))
  • IAN SIMMONS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANA GREEN (NATIONAL DIR OF ADVANCEMENT): $143,126 total reported compensation
  • SARA POLEN (EMPLOYEE OF DEMOCRACY HOUSE): $140,538 total reported compensation
  • AMBER FRENCH (EMPLOYEE OF DEMOCRACY HOUSE): $133,621 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 foundation for civic leadership is a nonprofit dedicated to engaging the next generation in democracy. We work with partners to identify gaps in the field, incubate new scalable projects to help fill them, and support those projects in becoming independent and sustainable.

What it reported doing in 2024

Democracy house is on a mission to inspire the next generation to defend, strengthen, and improve democracy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.9%; rating input score 33
  • Program expense ratio: 62.6%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 47.6%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.32; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.44; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.9% of revenue deployed · 62.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 12 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $317K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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 33/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.