Global Energy Monitor

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822723327
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Covina, CA, USA
Phone
6262190030
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,612,516
Expenses
$9,776,431
Assets
$5,799,924
Liabilities
$878,885

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Louisa Plotnick (Associate Director): $161,762 total reported compensation
  • Ryan Driskell Tate (Associate Director): $156,182 total reported compensation
  • Maisie Bird (Chief Data Officer): $151,790 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Global Energy Monitor develops and analyzes data on energy infrastructure, resources, and uses. We provide open access to information that is essential to building a sustainable energy future.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other programs: Other projects at GEM include cross-cutting work such as: 1) Our Energy Transition Tracker, which identifies zones with potential for scaling up renewable energy and provides centralized data, maps, and information about factors that facilitate or obstruct the transition, to help stakeholders drive real change in the energy transition. 2) Our Global Integrated Power Tracker, which combines data from all power generation trackers for improved visualization, understanding, and ease of use. 3) Our Global Energy Ownership Tracker, which provides ownership data for facilitates in nine of our other trackers. 4) Our Methane Emitters Tracker, which provides estimates of fossil fuel emissions at oil and gas and coal extraction sites, natural gas transmission pipelines, proposed projects and reserves, and attribution of remotely-sensed methane plumes. And 5) Our Private Equity Tracker, which is part of a multi-organization initiative known as the Private Equity Climate Risks (PECR) project.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.7%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 40.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 35.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 14 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.