Foundation for Government Accountability Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452637507
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Naples, FL, USA
Phone
2392448808
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Government and Public Administration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,774,419
Expenses
$13,836,410
Assets
$16,886,683
Liabilities
$362,146

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TARREN BRAGDON (CEO AND PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TARREN BRAGDON (CEO AND PRESIDENT): $508,220 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN BECHTLE SECRETARY (TREASURER, COO & GEN. COUNSEL): $374,531 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN INGRAM (VP OF POLICY & RESEARCH): $327,048 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's mission is to formulate and promote public polices based on the principles of transparency, the free market, individiual freedom, and limited constitutional government.

What it reported doing in 2024

Transparent & accountable government: research and promote policies to create transparency for regulations and quasi-regulatory actions like official "guidance" that tend to increase the size and cost of government, and to give voters and their representatives more tools to limit costly regulations and their impact on entrepreneurs and families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - 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: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $65.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th 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: 6.3%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $12.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $508K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $864K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.