Gideons Promise Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261947437
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Atlanta, GA, USA
- Phone
- 4045254505
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,100,239
- Expenses
- $1,684,135
- Assets
- $3,750,730
- Liabilities
- $280,565
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- ZANELE NGUBENI (Executive Dir.): $142,980 total reported compensation
- JONATHAN RAPPING (FOUNDER): $1,034 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to transform the criminal justice system by building a movement of public defenders who provide equal justice for marginalized communities
What it reported doing in 2024
Gideons Promise strengthens the nations public defense system by training, supporting, and sustaining student law clerks, new public defenders, chief defenders, and other indigent defense providers. Our mission is to transform the criminal justice system by building a movement of public defenders who provide equal justice for marginalized communities.In 2024, Gideons Promise equipped 618 public defenders and office chiefs with the skills, mentorship, and community support needed to deliver high-quality legal representation. Through our trademarked CORE 101 model and tailored regional programs, our work reached Georgia, Michigan, New York (Leaders Program), Tennessee, and Texas, where we delivered statewide comprehensive programming. This work is sustained by a growing network of supporters. Eighty-two volunteers and six interns contributed more than 1,880 hours of service in 2024. These contributions strengthen public defense offices across the nation, protecting the constitutional rights of thousands of individuals who would otherwise face the criminal legal system without adequate representation.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 67
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 65.5%; rating input score 65
- Program expense ratio: 79.2%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: 19.8%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.23; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 65.5% of revenue deployed · 79.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.