Verified Voting Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200765743
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
7608048683
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,486,826
Expenses
$3,059,512
Assets
$2,199,060
Liabilities
$65,682

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAMELA W SMITH (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAMELA W SMITH (President and CEO): $186,668 total reported compensation
  • MARK LINDEMAN (POLICY & STRATEGY DIRECTOR): $160,651 total reported compensation
  • Mary E Puckett (BOARD MEMBER): $134,582 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Strengthen democracy for all voters by promoting the responsible use of technology in all elections.

What it reported doing in 2024

Championed the responsible use of technology in elections, including reliable, accessible, usable, verifiable voting technology, and supported best practices in election administration including the regular conduct of post-election audits, and promoted these issues via earned media, participation at conferences, outreach to election officials, and participation in election protection efforts. Updated and maintained interactive maps and database providing state/local level information on election equipment being used throughout the united states to the general public. Maintained strong non-partisan alliances with election officials, voting rights advocates, legal and security/technology experts, election protection partners, voters, funders, and others. Served in technical advisory capacity for various projects on election administration best practices. Conducted both qualitative and quantitative research and published reports, resources, profiles spotlighting election officials, and guidance for election officials and other stakeholders on topics related to conducting transparent, accessible, and resilient elections, including, but not limited to, the use of voter marked paper ballot systems, vote by mail, recount procedures, audit procedures, ballot accounting procedures, relative costs of different voting systems, opportunities for public observation of voting systems.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.1% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.7% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $551K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.