Rise Economy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943153815
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4158643980
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,477,025
- Expenses
- $2,996,330
- Assets
- $3,341,061
- Liabilities
- $198,766
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Paulina Gonzalez-Brito (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Paulina Gonzalez-Brito (CEO): $235,402 total reported compensation
- Kevin Stein (Chief of Legal): $175,787 total reported compensation
- Brian Maxey (CCO): $143,233 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Organization works to build an inclusive and fair economy that meets the needs of low-income communities and communities of color by disrupting systems of oppression. The Organization is the largest statewide community reinvestment coalition in the country, with over 300 member organizations across California that provide services to thousands of Californians. The members include affordable housing developers, community development financial institutions, housing counseling agencies, small business technical assistance providers, legal services agencies, and community-based organizations.
What it reported doing in 2024
Housing JusticeRise Economy advances campaigns that will increase BIPOC communities access to low-cost capital for affordable housing, hold corporate landlords accountable for tenant protections, and address the growing insurability crisis that threatens to derail progress on affordable housing throughout the state. Rise Economys current work boldly shifts the narrative - centering corporate accountability in tackling Californias housing and climate crises, and advancing policy strategies to increase banking sector investment in affordable housing and BIPOC homeownership. These strategies, described below, can generate significant resources and data to address the state's affordable housing crisis, stabilize neighborhoods, and build climate resilience. Rise Economys current affordable housing-related campaigns and projects include:- State Community Reinvestment Act (CA CRA): Rise Economy and its members are leading a statewide organizing effort to establish a California Community Reinvestment Act. We estimate that the financial institutions not currently subject to federal CRA obligations have the potential to reinvest upwards of $15.3 billion per year for affordable housing and economic development in California. In 2024 Rise published a policy brief and is currently building support for a policy campaign for the California CRA.- LLC Owner Transparency: Increasing consolidation of rental property ownership in shell companies is creating regional real estate monopolies. Investors with all-cash offers outbid first-time homebuyers and small landlords, robbing families of opportunities to build intergenerational wealth. Large entities are worse landlords and aggressive evictors of tenants, and their business model disincentivizes upkeep of properties - allowing the already limited affordable housing stock to fall into disrepair and code violations. Without requiring disclosure of the name of the company owner, California inadvertently shields powerful bad actors in the rental market. Rise Economy is building a strong coalition of allies to join the push for LLC ownership transparency. - Financing for Community Land Trusts: In recent years we have partnered with the California Community Land Trust Network to negotiate $65M in bank commitments to CLTs. A current priority is partnering with the Community Ownership for Community Power Fund, brokering conversations with banks to invest some of these CLT commitments through COCPs Integrated Capital Fund.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 92
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -21%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 32.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $235K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.