Voice of the People

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460610665
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027447112
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$153,317
Expenses
$194,196
Assets
$4,139
Liabilities
$130,687

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVEN G KULL (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • STEVEN G KULL (PRESIDENT)
  • I MAC DESTLER (DIRECTOR)
  • GUETA MEZZETTI (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Voice of the people (vop) arises from the american people's belief that government has strayed from its founding vision of a republic guided by a sense of the people. Vop uses innovative methods and cutting edge technology to re-anchor our democracy in that original vision by giving the people a more effective voice. Vop provides interactive online tools to brief citizens on the issues, allowing them to evaluate various policy options and to make informed recommendations that can be shared with congressional representatives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Develop models of public consultation and online policymaking simulations that can be brought to scale to give congressional representatives a more accurate sense of their constituents' policy recommendations while educating the public on policy issues. Develop and maintain a website as a platform for disseminating information consistent with the organization's mission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 59
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 31.57; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -15.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $150K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.