Responsible Business Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261417796
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
5718585720
Rating
42
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,212,595
Expenses
$34,845,032
Assets
$28,163,760
Liabilities
$14,961,527

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robert Lederer (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robert Lederer (CEO): $824,577 total reported compensation
  • Holly Evans (SVP, Env. Policy): $370,586 total reported compensation
  • Deborah Albers (Chief Operating Officer): $364,985 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through the application of shared standards and tools, RBA believes they can create better social, economic, and environmental outcomes for all involved in the supply chain management. These outcomes include: improved conditions for workers, increased efficiency and productivity for customers and suppliers, economic development, and a cleaner environment for communities. Thus, the RBA mission is to promote a common Code of Conduct and a shared approach to implementing the Code throughout their members.

What it reported doing in 2025

Risk assessment services - provide a series of platforms and analysis services that allow member companies to assess risk levels of manufacturing sites in the areas of labor rights, health and safety standards, environmental sustainability, and business ethics. The assessment tools range from using (1) high-level macro elements to determine inherent risks, (2) self-assessment processes to identify a specific risk profile and mitigation controls, and (3) third-party assessments to provide an independent expert analysis of the conditions at the site.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $825K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.3M reported
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.