Majority Forward

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474368320
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2018
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026546200
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$76,141,831
Expenses
$96,015,234
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JB POERSCH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JB POERSCH (PRESIDENT): $1,259,688 total reported compensation
  • KAREN HANCOX (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $551,505 total reported compensation
  • ANGELIQUE HARRIS (NATIONAL FINANCE DIRECTOR): $254,880 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Majority Forward is a 501(c)(4) organization created to encourage full participation by voters in our election process.

What it reported doing in 2018

The organization conducted activities promoting progressive policies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 14
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $256.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.2%; rating input score 97; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 65.1% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 45.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $94.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $54.1M reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2016 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 25 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 22 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.