National Security Network

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
412143455
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2022895999
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International, Foreign Affairs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$562,343
Expenses
$845,686
Assets
$297,795
Liabilities
$56,642

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID MERCER (PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN BRADSHAW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN BRADSHAW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $143,847 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate the public and government leaders on national security issues important to the united states.

What it reported doing in 2015

Policy development / public messagingnsn continued to work toward creating effective policy solutions for national security issues and reached out to the expert policy community and media on issues including, iran, afghanistan, iraq/syria, ukraine, and asia. We have conducted numerous educational briefings on capitol hill and elsewhere to provide information and analysis to the national security policy community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $611K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $144K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.