Gender Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800603630
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6517892090
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,661,264
Expenses
$3,539,298
Assets
$3,321,569
Liabilities
$86,309

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MEGAN PETERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TANA HARGEST (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $171,469 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN PETERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $166,290 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTINA SAMBOR (NORTH DAKOTA STATE DIRECTOR): $128,120 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Gender justice is a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy organization working to advance gender equity through the law.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gender justice works to advance gender equity through the law to create a world where everyone can thrive regardless of their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation. We strive to create that world by dismantling legal, structural, and cultural barriers that contribute to gender inequity. Our organization selects cases in Minnesota and North Dakota based on their potential either to affect broad populations in similar situations as our clients or to set a powerful legal precedent on particular civil and human rights issues. Our impact litigation has strengthened protections for transgender people, women, and anyone who experiences gender discrimination and violence.gender justice also works to advocate for policies that promote gender equity and engages in public education to help people not only know their rights, but also feel empowered and supported by cultural shifts to realize those rights. Our organization takes an intersectional and coalition building approach to accomplish this work. Our unrestrict Minnesota program is an example of this and has connected with thousands of minnesotans to educate and engage them about the restrictions around abortion and reproductive freedom. We also convene the coalition to pass an equal rights amendment to the Minnesota constitution.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.3%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -33%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.3% of revenue deployed · 69.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $171K · 25 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.