The American Democracy Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202305292
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Falls Church, VA, USA
Phone
2027838270
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$721,086
Expenses
$832,393
Assets
$613,162
Liabilities
$71,932

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN HART (CEO & TREASURER, BOARD OF DIR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN HART (CEO & TREASURER, BOARD OF DIR): $225,000 total reported compensation
  • REBEKAH L DEHAVEN (COO, KEY EMPLOYEE): $125,000 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 american democracy institute is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering the next generation of american leaders. Our work seeks to prepare talented, high-impact individuals to be most effective in their roles as public leaders.

What it reported doing in 2024

Executive leadership institute: the executive leadership institute is committed to developing and supporting transformational leaders to have a greater impact on society. The institute convenes cohorts of executive leaders, including cross-sector cohorts and industry-specific cohorts, for programming that enriches the experiences for each participant and provides a community of support for problem solving, navigating professional and career development, and lifelong learning.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 42%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $620K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $225K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.