Mississippi Votes

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821014316
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Jackson, MS, USA
Phone
6015890816
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,947,630
Expenses
$5,090,331
Assets
$2,298,266
Liabilities
$571,217

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AREKIA BENNETT-SCOTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AREKIA BENNETT-SCOTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $140,819 total reported compensation
  • JESSICA TOWNSEND (OPERATIONS MANAGER): $106,365 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mississippi votes is an organization of intergenerational synergy centering and led by young people invested in the progression of Mississippi. We do this through our programming and outreach strategies that empowers young people, encourages civic engagement, and educates communities on voting rights through place-based grassroots organizing.

What it reported doing in 2024

Voter services include voter suffrage curriculum, voter education, and assistance with election protection on election day, continuation of voter registration campaign, up2us that started in prior year. Due to covid, there was a substantial shift of focus to digital and mail engagement with voters and potential voters. Direct mail and digital advertisement were significant tactics used to engage mississippians. Targeted universes for 2024 were select households of presidential-only voters 65 years and older, young people ages 18-35, and infrequent voters. Over 90,000 pieces of direct mail were sent out to these groups in 2024. Digital ads played 28,220,000 times. There were over 200,000 direct calls to voters. Another digital tool used this year was ballot ready, which allows registered voters to use and develop a voter guide: research the ballot, find out how to vote, check registration, get involved, and request a ballot. Educational text messaging campaigns were also used this year via hustle to inform voters of election deadlines and capture data about participation intentions. 2,987,000 text messages were sent to potential voters.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -72.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.