Open Society Action Fund

Legal name: Open Society Action Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522028955
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2125480600
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$157,180,674
Expenses
$178,663,592
Assets
$13,608,256
Liabilities
$7,296,453

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LALEH ISPAHANI (DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBBIE FINE (SECRETARY): $653,614 total reported compensation
  • MAIJA ARBOLINO (TREASURER): $575,897 total reported compensation
  • LALEH ISPAHANI (DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $566,815 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Open Society Action Fund is a non-partisan and non-profit 501(c)(4) organization that engages in advocacy aimed at influencing public policy on domestic and international issues, including civil rights and liberties, criminal justice reform, immigration, public health policy, and the promotion of government accountability.

What it reported doing in 2024

Domestic: open society action fund (osaf), furthers its social welfare activities through advocacy, coalition, building and grantmaking on a range of domestic policy areas, which in 2024 included the following: democracy defense, voting rights, election integrity, census, redistricting, economic security, workers rights, immigration, civil rights, racial justice, gender justice, lgbtq rights, reproductive freedom, courts accountability and ethics reform, combating mis- and disinformation, technology and civil rights, community safety, climate and environmental justice, corporate accountability, government accountability and transparency, judicial nominations, criminal justice reform, national security and civil rights, housing and health equity, education, and advancing a non-militarized, diplomacy-first u.s. Foreign policy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 97% 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $175.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $654K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 208 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 208 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.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.