Public Rights Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
884139028
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5107386788
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,384,249
Expenses
$10,844,815
Assets
$10,076,330
Liabilities
$445,561

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JILL HABIG (DIRECTOR AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOCELYN HARMON (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $264,414 total reported compensation
  • PASCALE JOSEPH (DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE): $249,249 total reported compensation
  • JILL HABIG (DIRECTOR AND CEO): $249,221 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Public rights project (prp) closes the gap between the promise of our laws and the lived reality of marginalized communities. We work hand in hand with local, state, and tribal governments across the u.s. To equitably enforce laws that protect people's civil and human rights.

What it reported doing in 2025

We empower city, state and tribal government officials protecting civil rights through: litigation, training and professional development, convening and connecting, storytelling and living our values.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.4%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 19th 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: 29.5%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 56% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.4% of revenue deployed · 70.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $264K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 50/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.