The Finance Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521841608
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2012
Forms available
Form 990 2012
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026284200
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Social Science

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,781,847
Expenses
$2,322,798
Assets
$903,888
Liabilities
$1,940,618

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To help improve outcomes for children, families and communities nationwide by supporting decision-making that produces and sustains good results. Develop and disseminate research, info, tools and technical assistance for improved policies, programs and financing strategies.

What it reported doing in 2012

Office of Head Start, National Center for Program Management and Fiscal Operations, Subcontract to Education Development Center, Inc. for the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesDescription: Provide research-based fiscal products as well as provide training and technical assistance to OHS support staff, Head Start, and Early Head Start grantees.Relevant Statistical InformationTraveled to various regions throughout the country to conduct presentations and provide technical assistanceDeveloped and supported the development of training material around the topics of finance, budgeting, cost allocation, and non-federal share matchingHeld several webinars and other virtual presentations for the entire Head Start community

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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: 81
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

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

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 87%; rating input score 87; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -30.4%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.15; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -23.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $415K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2010 to 2012
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.