Thesentryorg Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 208827879
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2025807690
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Human Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,486,301
- Expenses
- $4,017,566
- Assets
- $4,490,189
- Liabilities
- $444,763
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID FRANKEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID FRANKEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $262,153 total reported compensation
- JOHN PRENDERGAST (CO-FOUNDER): $225,756 total reported compensation
- GREGORY HITTELMAN (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $219,326 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 sentry is an investigative and policy team that follows the dirty money connected to war criminals and transnational war profiteers and seeks to shut those benefiting from violence out of the international financial system.
What it reported doing in 2024
The sentry produces hard-hitting investigative reports and dossiers on individuals and entities connected to grand corruption and violence. We advocate for the use of tools of financial and legal pressure, including anti-money laundering and illicit finance measures, targeted network sanctions, criminal prosecutions, compliance actions by banks and other private companies, and asset recovery. As a result of our work, money laundering routes have been exposed and shut down, assets have been frozen, travel has been banned, and corrupt networks have been cut off from the international financial system. Through strategic partnerships with governments, global banks, and other private and public organizations, the sentry has succeeded in creating real consequences for many of the officials and created accountability for actors perpetuating and profiting from war, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses. In order to track and analyze how armed conflict and atrocities are financed, sustained, and monetized, the sentry uses open source data collection, field research, and state-of-the-art network data analysis technology, and works in partnership with local and international civil society organizations, journalists, and governments. The sentry's investigations produce analytical reporting that engages civil society and media, supports regulatory action and prosecutions, and provides policymakers with the information they require to take effective action.
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 96% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 55.1%; rating input score 55
- Program expense ratio: 74%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- 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; 11th 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: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 26.8%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 41.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 55.1% of revenue deployed · 74% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $262K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $478K reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 10 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.