Seventhwave Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391656021
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
6082107121
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Energy Resources Conservation and Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,510,063
Expenses
$4,692,470
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANK GREB (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • MARGE ANDERSON (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRANK GREB (PRESIDENT/CEO): $260,199 total reported compensation
  • MARGE ANDERSON (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $175,201 total reported compensation
  • SCOTT PIGG (PRINCIPAL PROJECT MANAGER): $155,924 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Seventhwave inspires real and lasting change that advances economic and environmental sustainability.

What it reported doing in 2018

Program design, delivery, and evaluation: seventhwave delivers comed's high-impact commercial new construction program in northern Illinois. Since 2009, the program has provided technical assistance to more than 500 projects, achieved high levels of customer satisfaction and saved more than 264 million kwh. We have conducted significant research in Minnesota to help achieve greater energy savings in utility residential conservation improvement programs. We continue to provide technical assistance to Wisconsin's low-income weatherization assistance program, using the natural gas and electric billing records of treated clients to assess the energy saving impacts of the program. Seventhwave processes billing data for more than 1.5 million columbia gas of Ohio residential customers to conduct regular impact evaluations of five energy efficiency programs. Seventhwave partners with the u.s. Doe and nrel to scale energy performance-based procurement for new commercial buildings in Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon and Colorado.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: -4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.6% of revenue deployed · 64% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $260K · 14 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $602K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2011 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.