Southerners on New Ground Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

For the year ended December 31, 2024, SONG operated the following programs:(i) Local Campaign Training and Organizing: In 2024, SONG continued to train LGBTQ leaders in seven local chapters across the South in grassroots campaign organizing and intersectional methodology and connect leaders building local organizing campaigns with each other. Responding to the changing conditions in 2024, leaders in local sites worked with regional staff to develop campaigns focusing on Housing & Land Liberation, Protecting the Queer & Trans Kindred, and Stopping Criminalization. Additionally, SONG members worked to evolve organizing practices in the response to climate disaster conditions which required shifts in organizing methodology and limited campaign tactics.(ii) Coalition and Alliance Work: SONG brings LGBTQ leadership, expertise, and visibility to key racial and economic justice alliances and organizing fights in the South and incubates collaborative work that helps to connect bases and shared priorities. In 2024, SONG continued to participate as a partner in multiple coalitions including Movement 4 Black Lives, as well as partnering with other local and statewide coalitions and alliances throughout the South.SONG also continued to serve as an anchor organization along with eight other Southern movement organizations to lead the Southern Power Fund which was designed to raise and distribute resources to grassroots organizations across the South. The coalition has been anchored by four core organizations: SONG, Highlander Training Center, Alternate ROOTS, Inc., and Project South, Inc. As one of the four anchor organizations of the Southern Power Fund, SONG helped raise funds to redistribute to smaller southern organizations. (iii) Regional Membership & Base-building: SONG maintains and builds a base of more than 48,955 Southern LGBTQ Black people, people of color, rural, working class, and immigrant people. In 2024, SONG continued its work to connect and support SONGs base through general membership meetings, training and leadership development, communications work, and regional convenings. Due to continued pandemic conditions, SONGs gatherings which have been central to our work have happened virtually and in-person to support continued connection while also being mindful of our immunocompromised members and staff. We were able to engage members using online meeting tools and old school technologies like phone calls. In response to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing climate catastrophes, SONG continued to offer a member support fund and distributed funds for emergency support to SONG members and other community members in need. Through these programs in 2024, SONG brought leadership to intersectional organizing projects; further developed leadership within a multi-racial, intergenerational LGBTQ base; and engaged Southern LGBTQ people in projects and campaigns that directly addressed institutional and social injustice.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
• Fundraising efficiency: $15.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 39th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 86
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Limited
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Fail
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -129.7%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.45; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings