The American Jobs Initiative DBA American Jobs Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812293636
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5178995847
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Reported finances

Revenue
$451,525
Expenses
$786,211
Assets
$263,998
Liabilities
$114,812

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary K Collins (Managing Dir.): $138,741 total reported compensation
  • Katherine Ringness (Managing Dir.): $122,392 total reported compensation
  • Henry Love (Executive Dir.): $95,875 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The American Jobs Project develops practical, customized strategies to promote economic development and advanced energy jobs. We craft comprehensive, bottom-up, evidence-based solutions that create advanced energy jobs and the ecosystems that support them. Our team works with leaders and equips them with what they need to grow the local economy, accelerate advanced energy, and create good-paying jobs that last.

What it reported doing in 2018

Specific Research for the Wyoming Business Council: 1 report in 2018.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -74.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 45.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $667K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $139K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2016 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.