Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200121100
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158330384
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,891,819
Expenses
$4,228,649
Assets
$9,540,114
Liabilities
$396,045

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID ESQUIVEL (PRESIDENT)
  • CHERISNA JEAN-MARIE (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • LISA SHERMAN-NIKOLAUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA SHERMAN-NIKOLAUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $178,410 total reported compensation
  • CARA DOIDGE KILGORE (SENIOR OPERATIONS DIRECTOR): $84,907 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Tirrc is a statewide, immigrant and refugee-led collaboration. Our mission is to build power, amplify our voices, and organize communities to advocate for our rights. Our vision is a stronger, more inclusive Tennessee where people of all nationalities, immigration statuses, and racial identities can belong and thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy and education: helping immigrant community members understand and engage in the civic process; educating the public about the contributions of immigrants; advocating at the federal, state, and local level for policies that promote the integration of new immigrants and facilitate their full participation in u.s. Society

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.6%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 63.5%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 30th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 46.4%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.26; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.6% of revenue deployed · 63.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 14 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.