Nfib the Voice of Free Enterprise Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273615830
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158725800
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$776,797
Expenses
$776,797
Assets
$115,391
Liabilities
$66,878

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRAD CLOSE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRAD CLOSE (PRESIDENT): $1,283,458 total reported compensation
  • DAVID ADDINGTON (SECRETARY/PARLIAMENTARIAN): $758,179 total reported compensation
  • JEFF SMITH (CFO): $550,112 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Please see schedule o

What it reported doing in 2025

Nfib, the voice of free enterprise, inc educates small business owners about the principles of free enterprise, entrepreneurship, regulations, and taxation. In doing so, it supports the nfib small business legal center, which advocates for free enterprise in courts nationwide and provides support and business resources to small businesses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $62.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -20.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -12.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.3% of revenue deployed · 95.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $740K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.