The Advertising Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
130417693
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129221500
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$79,432,809
Expenses
$69,839,265
Assets
$109,963,979
Liabilities
$21,995,202

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

Leadership & pay

191 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA E SHERMAN (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LISA E SHERMAN (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $2,351,763 total reported compensation
  • PAULA VEALE (CHIEF MARKETING & COMMUNICATION): $736,951 total reported compensation
  • KENNETH M KROLL (CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATIONS OFFICER): $668,752 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The ad council is the nation's leading nonprofit public service communications organization, convening the best storytellers to develop largescale, researchdriven campaigns that educate, unite and uplift - raising awareness, shifting attitudes and driving behavior change on the nation's most pressing social issues. Campaigns are nonpartisan and do not support or oppose candidates, parties, or electoral outcomes. The organization does not act as a conduit for political or non-charitable activity; campaign funds are controlled and used for approved charitable program purposes. No funds, domestic or foreign, are used for political campaign intervention or to influence elections.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ad council conducts nonpartisan, research-based public service communications in furtherance of its charitable and educational purposes. The organization does not participate in political campaign activity, does not support or oppose candidates or political parties, and does not use funds to influence elections. Contributions, grants, government-supported funding, and donated media are used solely for charitable program purposes and are subject to organizational review, financial controls, and applicable exempt-organization requirements. Program expenditures are directly tied to campaign development, production, distribution, analytics, and educational outreach. [see continuation on schedule o]

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.6% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 140 of 141 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $53.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.4M · 191 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.4M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.