Partnership for Public Service Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061540513
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027759111
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,507,815
Expenses
$24,831,477
Assets
$59,218,091
Liabilities
$25,942,614

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MAX STIER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MAX STIER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $657,644 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER IVES END 1025 (VP, AI & MODERNIZING GOVERNMENT): $340,668 total reported compensation
  • TIMOTHY MCMANUS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER / TREASURER): $289,488 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Making our government work better is a daunting task, and we are a small organization seeking to transform a government that employs millions of civilians and manages trillions of dollars in taxpayer revenue needed to protect public safety, health, and welfare. To maximize impact, the partnership for public service leverages our educational programming, research and advocacy work to focus on challenges that have a disproportionate effect on government's capacity and performance.

What it reported doing in 2025

Public service leadership: many political and career leaders in federal, state and local government are not equipped to understand and engage a public and guide agencies in fulfilling their potential to address increasingly complex problems facing our nation and their states and communities. The partnership views leadership as the most crucial factor influencing government performance and effectiveness. By developing the skills and abilities of government leaders at all levels, including career civil servants as well as political appointees, and providing forums for them to discuss shared challenges and solutions, the partnership helps leaders become agents of change within their own agencies and across government. Our approach to developing leaders is grounded in our public service leadership model, which outlines core values government leaders must embody - stewardship of public trust and commitment to the public good - and outlines the competencies they need in a modern government and at each stage of their leadership careers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: 9.7%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.38; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.7% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $19.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $658K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $645K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 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: 9 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.