Right to Democracy Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462079939
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2023041202
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$640,386
Expenses
$608,960
Assets
$292,090
Liabilities
$5,967

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Neil Weare (Co-Director & Co-President)
  • Adi Martinez Roman (Co-Director & Co-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Neil Weare (Co-Director & Co-President): $162,953 total reported compensation
  • Adi Martinez Roman (Co-Director & Co-President): $136,654 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories through participatory advocacy, narrative and cultural change, and ecosystem building.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our Participatory Advocacy program works to confront and dismantle the undemocratic colonial framework governing all five U.S. territories through policy, advocacy, and litigation strategies that are developed by engaging people and communities from each territory, their diaspora, and throughout the United States. Our advocacy is directed towards creating systemic change and accountability across all three branches of the federal government. Key highlights: engaging civil rights, social justice, and community partners as well as congressional allies to press the U.S. Department of Justice to condemn the Insular Cases; developing new client-centered litigation focused on democracy, self-governance, and self-determination; advancing equity in federal benefits programs, philanthropic investments, data collection, and veterans services; and addressing issues of climate and environmental justice. Our work is supported by more than 1,000 hours of pro bono support from law firm partners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 49.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $487K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.