The Green Light Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464631639
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129220061
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,173,499
Expenses
$4,532,087
Assets
$543,205
Liabilities
$416,545

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • HANS-JAKOB SCHINDLER DIRECTOR INTL (POLITICAL POLICY & SECURIT): $394,340 total reported compensation
  • MARK WALLACE CHIEF (EXECUTIVE OFFICER & DIRECT): $212,500 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT BENTON (SECRETARY/DIRECTOR OF ADMIN): $207,292 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

A non-partisan organization focused on countering extremism and educating communities about the dangers of extremism.

What it reported doing in 2023

Counter support for extremist groups and extremist ideology by pressuring their financial support networks, building a best-in-class clearinghouse and database of extremist groups and their supporters, countering the narrative of extremists and their online recruitment, and advocating for strong laws, policies and regulations including exposing and degrading the financing and other economic support of global extremist organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.3% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $394K · 8 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $750K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2023
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.