Robin Hood Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133441066
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2122276601
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$180,479,570
Expenses
$163,007,413
Assets
$334,464,427
Liabilities
$99,291,540

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

Leadership & pay

59 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD BUERY JR (CEO / NON-VOTING DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD BUERY JR (CEO / NON-VOTING DIRECTOR): $1,041,339 total reported compensation
  • EMARY ARONSON (CHIEF KNOWLEDGE OFFICER): $498,565 total reported compensation
  • CAROLYN VINE (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $479,111 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2024

See description of grant making in schedule o.grant making: in 2024, robin hood approved $128.2 million in grants and program related investments to community partners across all five boroughs.robin hood made grants to organizations through four life-stage areas: early childhood; school-age children; young adults; and adults and household supports. These grants support high-quality education, career advancement, health and mental health, financial stability, and affordable housing. Additionally, robin hood's special initiatives like the robin hood learning + technology fund, the ai poverty challenge, the power fund, mobility labs, the child care quality innovation initiative, and fuel (fund for early learning) addressed clearly defined challenges in a time limited manner through the lens of community voice and the lived experiences of poverty. The blue ridge labs initiative made grants or investments to scale innovations that work to solve the most pressing social challenges that leverage technology. Robin hood's capital grant initiative collaborated closely with our community partners to help these organizations manage their space needs. A highlight of the intitative's work in 2024 included the opening of new stories, a large-scale public-private partnership that created 174 deeply affordable apartments, a newly renovated New York public library branch, and other community spaces and services under one roof in the newly minted jospeh and sheila rosenblatt building in manhattan's inwood community.robin hood's grantmaking staff evaluated programs applying for funds to determine grant recommendations and develop initiatives in response to unmet needs. These assessments included visits to the organization, interviews with program administrators, staff and participants, evaluation of historical results, and financial review.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 88% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 9.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.05; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.2% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 42 of 42 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $143.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1M · 59 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.8M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 262 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 249 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.