The Esop Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942478143
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2022932971
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,652,427
Expenses
$10,926,525
Assets
$5,958,407
Liabilities
$5,287,182

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES BONHAM (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • JENNIFER EDWARDS (VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBER SERVICES)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES BONHAM (PRESIDENT & CEO): $618,020 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIE MARK (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $395,230 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL MARCUE VICE PRESIDENT (FOR CHAPTER AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM): $337,877 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 esop association represents the interests of all corporations that sponsor employee stock ownership plans, or esops. The esop association provides advocacy and educational services on behalf of its members. Corporate membership in the esop association is open to all esop companies; members are closely held businesses, and include both c and s corporations, across all industries.

What it reported doing in 2024

Conferences, webinars, and roundtables: over 11,600 attendees, mostly employees of association members, attended four national conferences, over 80 local, state, and regional roundtables, seminars, and conferences in 2024. These gatherings focused primarily on management and leadership learning to improve corporate members' ownership culture that research and data indicates leads to more productive and profitable employee-owned companies. Secondarily, the education focused on the many laws and regulations, judicial rulings that must be complied with by corporations sponsoring an employee stock ownership plan.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: Fail
    • 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: -2.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.89; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $618K · 18 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $747K reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.