Honest Ads Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464385040
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127646455
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Reported finances

Revenue
$60,000
Expenses
$59,909
Assets
$28,514
Liabilities
$320

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • ARLINE VOGEL (CHAIR)
  • DIANE FRAIMAN (TREASURER)
  • HARRIETT BALKIND (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To educate and inform the public regarding the role of mass media in the political process, and to encourage critical thinking with respect to political messaging and advertising.

What it reported doing in 2025

Honestads brings you into-the-know about the manipulative emotional techniques used in political advertising by building awareness in innovative and compelling ways. We work with groups who care about political media literacy with the mission that viewers will never watch political ads in quite the same way again.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.3%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 58.4%; rating input score 58

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.3% of revenue deployed · 58.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $35K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 58/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.