Foundation for Public Affairs
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 226059920
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2027875959
- Rating
- 46
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $228,344
- Expenses
- $169,891
- Assets
- $144,742
- Liabilities
- $106,115
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Nneka Chiazor (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Nneka Chiazor (President): $598,796 total reported compensation
- Reginald Nance (VP Finance and Administration): $343,891 total reported compensation
- Kristin Brackemyre (Sr. Dir., Public Affairs Practice): $258,441 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to conduct and support research on issues and trends that affect the practice of public affairs and organizations' ability to thrive in a dynamic business environment. Our research provides actionable intelligence on emerging issues and best practices for all facets of public affairs worldwide.
What it reported doing in 2025
Research and Publications: The Foundation produces a variety of publications on emerging issues and trends in public affairs, as well as comprehensive benchmarking reports that help public affairs executives and managers better understand their environment.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Affiliate-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
- 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
MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 14
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 12.6%; rating input score 13
- Program expense ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 14
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25.6%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.73; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 164.7%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -10.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 12.6% of revenue deployed · 14.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $24K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $599K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 13/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.