Vote Solar
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464396728
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2013
- Location
- Oakland, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4158175060
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,622,988
- Expenses
- $9,407,681
- Assets
- $13,017,643
- Liabilities
- $663,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Elizabeth Brooks (CFO): $274,569 total reported compensation
- Sachu Constantine (Executive Dir.): $272,618 total reported compensation
- Sean Garren DeKrey (Secretary & CPO): $225,072 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Vote Solar's mission is to realize a 100% clean energy future through a solutions-driven, people-first approach.
What it reported doing in 2025
Vote Solar accelerates the transition to a 100% clean energy future by advancing policies and programs that expand access to clean solar energy and support a reliable, affordable and modern electric grid. We advocate for a more dynamic and resilient grid by promoting the integration of solar with energy storage and other innovative technologies, including community power networkssometimes called virtual power plantsthat aggregate local resources to bolster energy supply and improve grid stability in the face of extreme weather and surging demand. Additionally, we are advancing fair frameworks for managing new large-scale demand from data centers and electrification to ensure these new customers support clean energy growth without shifting financial burdens onto everyday ratepayers. By intervening in complex regulatory proceedings like Integrated Resource Planning and rate cases, we hold monopoly utilities accountable, realigning their financial incentives with the public interest through Performance-Based Ratemaking. Simultaneously, we work to dismantle market barriers by championing interconnection and permitting reforms that lower costs and prevent delays, ensuring that the transition to a modern, carbon-free grid benefits all energy consumers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.5%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: -23.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.38; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.5% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $275K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.