Sister District Action Network

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822112161
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Covina, CA, USA
Phone
9092939615
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,511,533
Expenses
$1,781,186
Assets
$1,393,011
Liabilities
$463,712

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LALA WU (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LALA WU (PRESIDENT): $190,777 total reported compensation
  • GABRIELLE GOLDSTEIN END 122024 (SECRETARY): $186,088 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH SCHWEGLER END 122024 (DIRECTOR): $185,717 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sister district action network inspires and empowers legislators, organizations, volunteers, and voters through civic education, rigorous research, policy analysis, and strategic convenings to engage deeply in civic engagement activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Purple district network - builds community among purple district legislators in order to share best practices, governance techniques, education and strategies for being effective legislators. Narrative building & story telling - increases understanding of the public about the power and promise of states.state power table is convening national organizations engaged in progressive state legislator support in order to 1) increase our collective impact by identifying and pursuing opportunities to streamline organizational efforts through collaboration and coordination, 2) increase visibility about progressive state legislators, policy and issues, and 3) drive collective narrative around the importance of state legislators, policy and issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.5%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th 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: -17.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.5% of revenue deployed · 70.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.