Gigafact Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 882840217
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Redwood City, CA, USA
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public, Society Benefit N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $372,579
- Expenses
- $223,573
- Assets
- $191,392
- Liabilities
- $42,386
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Chandran Sankaran (President, Secretary and Treasurer)
Highest reported compensation
- Robyn Sundlee (Head of Operations): $110,497 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Gigafact helps highly trusted newsrooms respond constructively to everyday misinformation, rumors, confusions and claims that circulate in their communities. In so doing, newsrooms gain a new way to inform their readers, build civic bridges, hold public officials to account, and unlock growth opportunities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 50.5%; rating input score 51
- Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 40%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 49.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 50.5% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $188K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.