Public Advocates Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237103042
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4154317430
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,884,918
Expenses
$7,417,229
Assets
$20,324,568
Liabilities
$2,278,017

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GUILLERMO MAYER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • GUILLERMO MAYER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $265,352 total reported compensation
  • JOHN AFFELDT (MANAGING ATTORNEY): $252,463 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD MARCANTONIO (MANAGING ATTORNEY): $223,488 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

For more than five decades, public advocates has challenged the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice. We spur change through collaboration with grassroots groups representing low-income communities, people of color and immigrants, combined with strategic policy reform, media advocacy, and litigation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Metropolitan equityto ensure meaningful access to opportunity, public advocates' metropolitan equity team advocates for affordable homes in all communities, public transportation that serves the needs of low-income people, and socially just and environmentally sustainable development at the local, regional, and state levels. Working hand in hand with low-income communities of color, we fight to reverse generations of housing segregation and unfair allocation of public and private resources. At the national level, we co-convene the alliance for housing justice, which anchors the national housing justice grassroots table and brings together national base-building networks, state coalitions, and organizations to build alignment and advance national housing policy reform.key accomplishments in fy25 include: supporting successful effort in salinas to win rent stabilization, just cause for eviction, and tenant anti-harassment ordinances; supporting a community coalition in vallejo that won commitments for tenant protections; extending California's tenant protection act to tenants in affordable housing built with low income housing tax credits; won policy increasing the amount of time tenants have to respond to an eviction notice; led successful efforts to minimize the impact of a fare increase by an east bay transit agency by extending implementation; released a series of comprehensive reports on evaluating the impact and outcomes of recent housing element plans adopted by bay area jurisdictions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 80% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.1%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 42nd 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: 25%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.1% of revenue deployed · 71.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $265K · 24 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 28 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 18 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.