Ms. Foundation for Women
Legal name: Ms Foundation for Women Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237252609
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2127422300
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Women's Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $30,607,417
- Expenses
- $18,024,510
- Assets
- $129,254,649
- Liabilities
- $11,381,892
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
25 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RUTH MCFARLANE (DEPUTY CEO)
- TERESA YOUNGER (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- TERESA YOUNGER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $326,801 total reported compensation
- RUTH MCFARLANE (DEPUTY CEO): $287,117 total reported compensation
- ELLEN LUI (CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER): $255,537 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We build women’s collective power in the U.S. by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural, and economic change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Public education: the foundation strives to lift the voices of all women and conducts public education in the areas critical to women's wellbeing, such as health access, reproductive justice, economic justice, and increasing the safety of women and girls. We educate and engage audiences through our website, blogs, social media platforms, online engagements, and media placements through news outlets across the country. We also strive to create strategic media and advocacy partnerships that amplify the voices of women, particularly women of color like through our virtual conversation about women and justice with the center for brooklyn history. During this fiscal year, ms. Foundation published "the color of infertility: race, infertility, and reproductive justice in the u.s. Was a presenting partner of when we win, a lemonada podcast hosted by political commentator maya rupert.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 43% for direct work, and 57% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 73
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 49.5%; rating input score 50
- Program expense ratio: 75.2%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.5%; rating input score 90; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 33rd 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; 66th 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: 41.1%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.17; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th 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: 49.5% of revenue deployed · 75.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $327K · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $930K reported
- Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 217 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 210 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.