Lift Up Voices Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811045445
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Fontana, CA, USA
Phone
8182128324
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,005,000
Expenses
$133,080
Assets
$1,231,000
Liabilities
$3,201

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Victoria Marshall (Secretary)
  • Mauli Bonner Jr (Executive Dir.)
  • Julia Franklin (Director)

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

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

Overview

Mission

At Lift Up Voices Foundation, our mission is to give a voice to those who need it. We believe that creativity is a gift that can lead to immense growth, development and change. Through community initiatives and outreach programs, Lift Up Voices Foundation works to address inadequacies in societal systems and raise the profile of effected individuals and communities. We strive to provide young people with inclusive and accessible opportunities in music and the arts that allow their voices to be heard long after each experience.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lift Up Voices Inc (LUV) acknowledges the injustices that have plagued African Americans for generations. It is our mission to provide an outlet for their voices to be heard. The LUV Inner City Initiative will see further resources focused upon the Black and Brown community. Through our work we have come to recognize that there is a disproportionate amount of negative portrayals of Black and Brown men in entertainment, thus leading to implicit bias amongst the broader community. These biases perpetuate racial injustices. LUV engages youth through the performing arts to play an active role in shifting the paradigm of content creation pertaining to African Americans. By changing the narrative, we change the view. Our foundation recognizes the need for more positive portrayals of our Black brothers and sisters in music and film. The LUV Inner City Initiative is a mentor program, comprising of industry professionals that work in the highest levels of entertainment. Those participating in the program receive hands-on training in all facets of song and movie creation as they contribute to reshaping the negative stigmas attached to color. Through song lyrics, character development and storytelling, the youth of today have the opportunity to use their voice in telling their authentic story.

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 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

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 22
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 91
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 7.1%; rating input score 7
  • Program expense ratio: 53.8%; rating input score 54
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 86.8%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.25; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -31% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 7.1% of revenue deployed · 53.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $72K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.