The Sia Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 854329649
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Randolph, MA, USA
- Phone
- 7818053482
- Rating
- 59
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Science and Technology N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $12,298,041
- Expenses
- $4,842,619
- Assets
- $42,607,328
- Liabilities
- $58,026
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Nate Maninger (President/Core Developer)
Highest reported compensation
- Nate Maninger (President/Core Developer): $340,954 total reported compensation
- Alex Freska (Front-end Engineer): $287,038 total reported compensation
- Luke Champine (Treasurer/Core Developer): $285,539 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 Sia Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to supporting the Sia cloud storage network and educating the public about the urgency of data privacy and ownership.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grants Program - Program dedicated to funding research, development, developer tools, and anything else that will support and further our mission of user-owned data.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 48
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 42
- Sustainability: 83
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 38.5%; rating input score 38
- Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 97.6%; rating input score 98; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: 60.6%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.8; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 44.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 72.7% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 38.5% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $341K · 6 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $893K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.