Responsible Business Initiative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
991626742
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
2025805098
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Reported finances

Revenue
$204,285
Expenses
$128,087
Assets
$177,428
Liabilities
$9,655

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Timothy M Doyle (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Timothy M Doyle (President): $118,450 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Responsible Business Initiative RBI is organized to promote responsible corporate governance sustainability and business policy engagement. RBI advances its mission through research stakeholder engagement and the development of programs that encourage market-oriented solutions to long-term business challenges.

What it reported doing in 2025

During fiscal year 2025 RBI advanced its mission through several principal program activities. Through its co-founders RBI delivered remarks at four public events during the fiscal year focused on corporate governance sustainability and responsible business policy engaging audiences of executives investors board members and policy professionals. RBI also organized and convened a program event examining the Securities and Exchange Commissions Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M which was issued by the SECs Division of Corporation Finance on February 12 2025 and which revised the Staffs interpretive approach to the ordinary business and economic relevance exclusions in Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The event brought together panelists from across the corporate governance and shareholder engagement community to examine the bulletins implications for issuers investors and the broader market for corporate accountability. RBIs co-founders also authored and published a series of written commentaries during the fiscal year including op-eds and articles in trade publications contributing to public discourse on responsible corporate governance and sustainability. RBIs program activities during fiscal year 2025 emphasized public engagement written contribution to the field relationship building and the development of program infrastructure to support expanded initiatives in future years.

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 revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.9%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 65%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.39; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 71.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 63.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 40.9% of revenue deployed · 65% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 2 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $83K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.