SAM Advocacy Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832913327
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Stonington, CT, USA
Phone
6465090079
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$359,380
Expenses
$358,615
Assets
$189,759
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Brendan Finley (Campaign Director): $104,764 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

SAM Advocacy Fund is a citizens based education and electoral reform advocacy organization. From inception to date, it has been devoted exclusively to educating the public and advancing electoral reform in Connecticut including the introduction of ranked choice voting in certain primaries and elections in Connecticut. It currently does business in Connecticut as CT Voters First, ctvotersfirst.org.

What it reported doing in 2024

Doing business as CT Voters First, SAM Advocacy Fund ("CTVF") worked to advance legislation in the Connecticut legislature including a bi-partisan bill to enable the political parties to use ranked choice voting ("RCV") in their presidential primaries, to give municipalities the option to use RCV in single winner elections and to provide for the use of RCV in party conventions. CTVF secured the support of Governor Lamont, hired and worked with professional lobbyists in pursuit of passage of the legislation

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 58.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 37.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $359K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.