National Taxpayers Union Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521122683
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
7036835700
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,896,451
Expenses
$2,261,171
Assets
$6,274,854
Liabilities
$811,126

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER J SEPP (PRESIDENT/ DIRECTOR)
  • JOSEPH D HENCHMAN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,NTUF)
  • BRANDON D ARNOLD (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,NTU)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH D HENCHMAN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,NTUF): $282,075 total reported compensation
  • PETER J SEPP (PRESIDENT/ DIRECTOR): $277,449 total reported compensation
  • BRANDON D ARNOLD (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,NTU): $277,259 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

National taxpayers union foundation (ntuf) provides crucial, impactful research and analysis showing americans how taxes, government spending, and regulations affect them. With our unique combination of policy expertise, outreach know-how, and true non-partisanshipntuf strives to be the number one federal and state source for sound fiscal policymaking.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public education and research: this program category includes substantive outreach and communications with the general public, policymakers, and supporters through promotion and distribution of policy papers and issue briefs, an email newsletter. The website and blog, earned media appearances and citations, appearances at conferences, comment filings, and public interest litigation. Projects include examining rules and reforms to budget processes that affect economic growth; analyzing how states and localities engage in tax and regulatory actions beyond their borders; illustrating the incidence and distribution of tax burdens on american households; quantifying tax compliance and complexity costs; focusing on the fiscal aspects of trade policies; filing litigation and amicus briefs in precedential cases affecting taxpayer rights and sound tax administration; delivering information the public often finds difficult to obtain on fiscal matters such as public official's perquisites; and developing practical policy responses to the fiscal and government administration challenges currently confronting the nation.

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 99% 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. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.3%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 21st 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: 21.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.78; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 42.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.3% of revenue deployed · 80.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $282K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $146K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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 — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.