Free Speech Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 852279624
IRS 990 coverage: 2020–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024
Location: Naples, FL, USA
Phone: 6156685659
Rating: 71
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $2,655,827
Expenses: $5,535,340
Assets: $4,223,942
Liabilities: $45,246

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

Dr SIMONE GOLD (President)

Highest reported compensation

Dr SIMONE GOLD (President): $692,908 total reported compensation
LISA ALEXANDER (Exec. Dir./Sec): $204,000 total reported compensation
LISA ANDRZEJEWSKI (Executive Dir.): $85,626 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 principal purpose shall be to further its charitable, scientific, literary, religious and educational purposes, with a focus on educating the public on the enduring importance of the bill of rights to america's history and civic traditions.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hosted an event titled freedom summit featuring more than a dozen physicians and attorneys who presented on current state of the medical system and relevant litigation, and their assessments of the successes and failures of various public health measures. Dr. Gold supplemented these activities with radio interviews, articles, and blog posts examining the same issues. Produced a full-length documentary on the issues with gender transition of children exposing the ethical and legal implications. Created a 5-part video series detailing the medical facts of gender transition along with the financial incentives being offered to doctors. Filed amici curiae briefs for five legal cases with four of those taken up by scotus.

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 99% 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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 82
Transparency & Controls: 76
Accountability: 47
Sustainability: 20
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
Program expense ratio: 69.6%; rating input score 70
Fundraising efficiency: $7.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 25%; rating input score 25; 6th 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: -108.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 17.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 25.3% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 69.6% of spending went to programs
Governance: 1 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $693K · 4 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 3 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.

High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 25/100.
High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.