Open City Advocates
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 202325866
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2026789001
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Rehabilitation Services for Offenders
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,575,195
- Expenses
- $1,289,953
- Assets
- $1,141,363
- Liabilities
- $47,405
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PENELOPE SPAIN (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- PENELOPE SPAIN (CEO): $172,404 total reported compensation
- WHITNEY LOUCHHEIM (COO): $161,442 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Open city advocates provides youth-centered legal defense and holistic advocacy for young people after sentencing in the dc juvenile justice system and works for systemic improvements to the juvenile justice system, both locally and nationally, to better the lives of marginalized children and youth.
What it reported doing in 2024
Open city advocates serves approximately 60-70 youth annually, ranging from 14-25 years old, who are or were formerly committed to the dc department of youth rehabilitation services dyrs. We tackle racial disparity where it is most extreme, as 100 of youth committed to dcs delinquency system are youth of color. We help our clients transition home from incarceration and support their quests to continue their education, obtain employment, and become positive forces in their communities. We protect their due process rights and strive to keep them out of inherently harmful locked facilities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 63% 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 - 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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.1%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.1%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 25.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 74.1% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- 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.
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.