The Advocates For Human Rights
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363292374
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6123413302
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Human Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,774,507
- Expenses
- $4,572,468
- Assets
- $4,739,712
- Liabilities
- $744,359
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Robin Phillips (Past Executive Director)
- Michele McKenzie (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Robin Phillips (Past Executive Director): $145,932 total reported compensation
- Michele McKenzie (Executive Director): $119,519 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 promote and protect human rights in the United States and around the world.
What it reported doing in 2024
International Justice: The Advocates promotes international human rights by partnering with human rights defenders, coalitions, and affected communities to abolish the death penalty and protect the rights of LGBTIQ people, women, migrants, and others facing violence and discrimination. Engaging more than 350 volunteers, The Advocates documents violations, amplifies the voices of human rights defenders, and leverages international human rights mechanisms to influence local change. In FY25, The Advocates collaborated with 54 human rights partners in 51 countries to strengthen protections and drive legal reform.
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 56
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 88.9%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 88.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $4.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 27 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- 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.
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.