Swords to Plowshares

Legal name: Swords to Plowshares Veterans Rights Organization

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942260626
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4152524788
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Military, Veterans' Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$39,178,215
Expenses
$38,540,912
Assets
$39,522,332
Liabilities
$27,476,825

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL BLECKER (2024 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • TRAMECIA GARNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ COO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRAMECIA GARNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ COO): $216,656 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BLECKER (2024 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $209,450 total reported compensation
  • STEPHEN CHEN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $185,385 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To prevent and end veteran homelessness through wraparound care and informed advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Health & social servicesmore than 1,500 veterans sought services and case management at swords drop-in center, which provides critical services to homeless and at-risk veterans, including: emergency shelter; mental health and substance abuse counseling; homelessness prevention; rapid re-housing and referrals to a number of community agencies and the veterans administration. We provide assistance to stabilize veterans and to meet the full range of their needs as they prepare to enter a treatment program, start a new job or exit homelessness. Case managers arranged for brief emergency housing for over 250 homeless veterans and financial assistance to 300 veteran families moving into permanent housing. We were also able to retain housing for 150 veteran families faced with eviction. Swords' representative payee services helped veterans with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues manage their money and retain housing. Currently 145 veterans participate in this program and are thus protected from eviction and other consequences of poor money management. We also worked with the san francisco veterans administration, the city and county of san francisco, the department of housing and urban development and the san francisco housing authority to streamline efforts and collaboration to house the "hardest to serve" chronically homeless veterans. Our va-funded rapid re-housing program; supportive services for veterans and families (ssvf), consists of time-limited, short-term progressive components of individualized goal setting designed to build upon one another for a solid approach to housing stabilization and retention. This 'housing first" model provides immediate wrap-around support to each participant, establishing a solid permanent housing foundation - followed by supportive services that have been uniquely designed to help veterans maintain their housing. We served over 1,100 families is all bay area counties.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 66% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90.6%; rating input score 91; 20th 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; 66th 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: 1.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 84.7% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $33.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $217K · 27 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.