National Institute for Workers Rights
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262270705
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Concord, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4152967629
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Employment N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $810,060
- Expenses
- $438,687
- Assets
- $725,420
- Liabilities
- $8,545
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Diane King (President)
- Denise Clark (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Karen Maoki (Executive Dir.): $160,760 total reported compensation
- Leah Hofkin (Development Director): $152,210 total reported compensation
- Jason Solomon (Institute Director): $130,810 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The national institute for workers' rights (the institute) mission is to advance workers' rights through research, thought leadership, and education for policymakers, advocates, and the public. The institute will achieve its mission through a multidisciplinary approach in combination with innovative legal strategies, policy development, grassroots advocacy, and public education.
What it reported doing in 2024
The mission of the national institute for workers' rights (the institute) is to advance workers' rights through research, thought leadership, and education for policymakers, advocates, and the public. Founded in 2008, the institute is the related charitable public interest organization of the national employment lawyers association (nela). Working hand in hand with nela, the institute seeks to create a future in which workers will be paid at least a living wage in an environment free of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and capricious employment decisions; employers will fulfill their promises to provide retirement, health, and other benefits; workers' safety will not be compromised for the sake of corporate profits and interests; and individuals will have effective legal representation to enforce their rights to a fair and just workplace, adequate remedies, and access to the courts to vindicate their workplace rights when they are violated. As the nation's employee rights advocacy think tank, the institute influences the broad, macro conversations that shape employment law. We conduct research, develop resources, and educate advocates, judges, the media, policymakers, and the general public to promote employee rights and protect workers' access to the courts.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 51
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 41.2%; rating input score 41
- Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 45.8%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 67%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 41.2% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $319K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.