Open Research Lab

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810861414
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2015
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4153068856
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,298,154
Expenses
$3,802,696
Assets
$2,973,762
Liabilities
$32,235

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Elizabeth Rhodes (Director): $191,632 total reported compensation
  • Aristia Kinis Glinka (Strategy Director): $182,436 total reported compensation
  • Patrick Krause (Data Director): $166,298 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 Research Lab seeks to answer open-ended questions and develop technology that should not be owned by any one company and requires work on a very long time horizon. With investment in fundamental research declining, Open Research Lab seeks to fill fundamental research gaps.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, the Organization completed the initial dissemination of research findings for the Unconditional Cash Study (also called ORUS), a randomized controlled trial. This work included publishing working papers, presenting at conferences, completing interviews, and developing a website to clearly share documentation and findings with the public. The Organization also hosted research briefings to engage policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders, and reached out directly to study participants to answer their questions about the results. The research team invited all participants to take part in quarterly surveys and conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of participants to better understand their experiences after the cash assistance program ended. The Organization also worked on additional analysis, secured several grants to support key components of this project, expanded public access to research documentation and data, collaborated with partner organizations, advised multiple groups implementing cash assistance programs on program design, evaluation, and implementation, and began development of new projects building on this research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 18.4%; rating input score 18
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $51,604.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 79.2%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 18.4% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 8 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.