Policy Issues Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330973052
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Laguna Niguel, CA, USA
Phone
2025586491
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,174,269
Expenses
$5,495,572
Assets
$218,686
Liabilities
$209,487

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James Lacy (CEO)
  • Floyd Brown (President)
  • Alexander Tomescu (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • James Lacy (CEO): $382,500 total reported compensation
  • Floyd Brown (President): $376,750 total reported compensation
  • Lori Klein (Director): $42,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

PII has worked over the last two decades to educate and inform the public regarding public policy issues that impact the constitutional order upon which our country was founded. PII is primarily focused on promoting robust First Amendment protections for citizens and exposing judicial overreach that contravenes fundamental American principles such as free speech, freedom of the press, and other natural rights bestowed upon the public by our Constitution. PII similarly has a substantial interest in preventing judicial overreach, especially when that overreach has substantial First Amendment implications.

What it reported doing in 2025

PII mailed over 257,000 petitions in 2025 to the public, to inform them of important public policy issues, and asking them to send their signed petitions to members of Congress and other government officials. Over 100,000 signed petitions were received by government officials, calling on them to investigate and take action on matters of increased integrity in government that promotes the general welfare of the public.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 43
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 68%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.2%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.04; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.96; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.5%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.3% of revenue deployed · 68% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $382K · 8 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.