National Institute on Money In

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810526651
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Helena, MT, USA
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Political Science

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$958,051
Expenses
$1,367,668
Assets
$559,797
Liabilities
$46,519

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDWIN BENDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BERT BRANDENBURG (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EDWIN BENDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,492 total reported compensation
  • BRENDAN GLAVIN (SENIOR DATA ANALYST): $119,316 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promote an accountable democracy by compiling comprehensive campaign- donor, lobbyist, and other information from government disclosure agencies nationwide and making it freely available at followthemoney.org. See Schedule O for Continuation

What it reported doing in 2020

The Institute collects, codes and posts the nations only free, 50-state, searchable database of political contributions reported by state and federal candidates, political parties, and state ballot measure committees, as well as selected lobbying information, independent spending records, and more. The Institute issues timely reports that point out campaign finance trends and anomalies, and trains and assists journalists, researchers and public interest law firms, open- government policy groups, and others to use the campaign finance database for public education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -42.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2020
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.