Powerswitch Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
710914032
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5102010081
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,935,473
Expenses
$11,108,655
Assets
$26,104,170
Liabilities
$3,970,402

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREN JACOBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BARBARA FINNIN (FINANCE AND OPERATIONS DIR): $181,882 total reported compensation
  • LENA AFRIDI (CHIEF OF STAFF): $174,087 total reported compensation
  • BENJAMIN BEACH (LEGAL DIRECTOR): $167,206 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Powerswitch action is a national network forging collective democracy and economies in our cities and states, together with our 21 grassroots affiliates.

What it reported doing in 2025

Green workers alliance: brings together employees in a wide range of green jobs to advocate for policies that both address environmental and resulting social problems and increase the number of good, clean jobs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 56% for direct work, and 44% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.35; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.1% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 39 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $308K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 33 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 27 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.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.