Streetwise and Safe Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452866644
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014, Form 990-N 2012
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
3474669430
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Reported finances

Revenue
$793,751
Expenses
$863,771
Assets
$127,002
Liabilities
$23,053

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Andrea Ritchie (Executive Dir.): $72,132 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Garrett (Interim Dir.): $26,194 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

SAS builds leadership among LGBTQ youth of color who experience profiling and discriminatory policing so they can speak out on their own behalf to collectively advance their rights and to demand social change.

What it reported doing in 2014

Youth Program/Know Your Rights: SAS launched the spring 15-week leadership and know your rights program and invited 10 new young people to participate and 5 graduates become SAS youth leaders. Through the program, youth leaders learned and shared "know your rights" information with peers. Further, SAS hosted a Pride Know Your Rights forum to discuss specific challenges LGBTQ folks face when encountering the police where community members attended. Our youth leadership program also outreached and collected over 300 pledges of support across New York City. Our youth leaders participated in Trans Day of Action where SAS spoke out against profiling, harassment and brutality at the hands of the police department.State and Local Policy advocacy: SAS was involved in efforts to secure the passage of the Community Safety Act, which is landmark legislation aiming to end discriminatory policing in New York City. SAS also worked to end police and prosecutors from using possession of condoms as evidence of intent to engage in prostitution-related offenses at the New York City level. Lastly, SAS advocated for effective implementation with respect to the changes to the NYPD Patrol Guide concerning treatment of transgender New Yorkers. In 2015, SAS is releasing a youth-created outreach tool to share with peers related to the patrol guide.National/Movement Building: SAS partnered with the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School, and the Center for American Progress to develop A Roadmap for Change: Federal Policy Recommendations for Addressing the Criminalization of LGBT People and People with HIV. This report is the first comprehensive set of federal policy recommendations to address cycles of criminalization and discriminatory treatment faced by LGBT people and PLWH (People Living With HIV). SAS in partnership with BreakOUT! co-launched Get Yr Rights! A National LGBT Youth Know Your Rights Network. The network aims to resource and build the capacity of LGBTQ youth and LGBTQ youth serving organizations to begin, or deepen their efforts to share know your rights information with LGBTQ youth and to engage in campaigns to reduce the harms of interactions with police. Currently, there are over 30 diverse network members who range from grassroots organizers to service providers, organizations that develop leaders and organizations that engage in policy advocacy work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.1% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $604K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.