GRO - Grass Roots Organizing

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431907795
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Mexico, MO, USA
Phone
5735819595
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$278,257
Expenses
$282,892
Assets
$42,804
Liabilities
$5,032

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robin Acree (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robin Acree (Executive Director): $65,422 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To create a grassroots voice to win economic justice and human rights for all Missourians

What it reported doing in 2014

Health Rights Projects - GRO leaders are working to create systemic policy changes that will help families struggling to make ends meet have access to affordable adequate basic health care. Project goals are to keep the insured covered and to cover the uninsured by keeping social service programs in tact and increasing public awareness of the plight of the un and underinsured.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.3% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -19.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.5% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $216K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.