Opensecrets

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521275227
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028570044
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Government and Public Administration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,281,039
Expenses
$3,374,050
Assets
$3,784,727
Liabilities
$260,677

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Hilary Braseth (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Hilary Braseth (Executive Director): $235,284 total reported compensation
  • Jacob Hileman (IT Director): $168,002 total reported compensation
  • Victoria Sorg (Director of Revenue & Ext): $152,244 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule O.

What it reported doing in 2025

Data, Research and Analysis: OPENSECRETS reporting staff and researchers work hand-in-hand to comb the data for patterns and anomalies, put the data in context, identify trends and provide the money-in-politics angle to timely news stories, topics of popular interest and policy debates. OPENSECRETS continually updates and improves its data to provide an accurate, consistent and comprehensive resource for the press, scholars, advocates and public. OPENSECRETS frequently works with other organizations to combine its unique value-added data with other data sets, and to create features illustrating the role money plays in politics and decision-making. Original Reporting, Media Partnerships and Training: OPENSECRETS news team follows the money to provide original and timely reporting using its data on topics of interest at the national, state and local levels. This work and these insights are shared with the public through our newsletter, OPENSECRETS news, reports and data tools. Every year, OPENSECRETS staff assist hundreds of news organizations, large and small, with their money in politics investigations. These collaborations result in tens of thousands of citations of OPENSECRETS data in the nations most prominent print, broadcast and online news outlets. Our team routinely holds trainings for investigative journalists and beat reporters on how to use OS data resources and develops media partnerships and reporting collaborations. OS staff work with journalists on a daily basis, providing custom data and analysis, expertise and background information on money in politics, and commentary for news stories.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.6%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: 21.2%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.6% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $235K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $125K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.