Groundswell Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474003615
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2020
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
5104445900
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,282,655
Expenses
$22,565,704
Assets
$25,416,530
Liabilities
$527,104

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yamani Hernandez (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Yamani Hernandez (CEO): $442,601 total reported compensation
  • Naa Amissah-Hammond (Chief Strategy Ofr): $311,772 total reported compensation
  • Angella Bellota (Director-Fnd Relat): $288,184 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Groundswell fund practices solidarity with u.s. Movements for bodily autonomy by redistributing wealth to build care-based, grassroots networks for a multi-racial feminist democracy

What it reported doing in 2025

GrantmakingGroundswell Fund supports 501(c)(3) organizations through Grantmaking, Capacity Building, and Funder Organizing to build the power of reproductive justice and other intersectional movements. Through our grantmaking, we provide mostly general support and commit to funding strong, effective organizations for the long term.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 64% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 49th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -69.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $18.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $443K · 16 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $139K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 137 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 130 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.