Four Directions - Rfa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823635712
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Gainesville, VA, USA
Phone
7039196055
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$572,459
Expenses
$163,665
Assets
$529,750
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • OLIVER SEMANS (EXECUTIVE DI)
  • WIZIPAN LITTLE ELK GARRIOTT (CHAIRMAN)
  • JEANINE ABRAMS MCLEAN (VICE CHAIRMA)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Four directions-rfa's mission is to help educate and encourage tribal citizens on the importance of participating in all electoral processes - municipal, county, state, and federal - and ensure that all eligible native voters have a equal opportunity to choose, at the polls, who will govern.

What it reported doing in 2025

Four directions-rfa hosted non-partisan native american issues forums in Virginia, Nevada, and Minnesota to educate candidates for elected office about the unique issues affecting tribal citizens who live on american indian reservations and those who live off-reservation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 31
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 18.3%; rating input score 18
  • Program expense ratio: 64.2%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 71.4%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.24; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -159.7% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -98.7% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 125.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 18.3% of revenue deployed · 64.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $105K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.