We Defend Truth F/k/a Truthnotlies Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862508677
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
2029684512
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$276,840
Expenses
$288,956
Assets
$240,332
Liabilities
$18,826

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEHMU GREENE (FOUNDER & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEHMU GREENE (FOUNDER & CEO): $72,800 total reported compensation
  • DAVID GOLDSTEIN (TREASURER): $60,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We defend truth fights disinformation with hyper-targeted culturally-compelling counternarratives and public education campaigns.

What it reported doing in 2023

We defend truth is dedicated to educating the public and combating online disinformation on important civic issues including vaccinations, the integrity of our elections, and climate change. In 2022, we defend truth launched its vaccine campaign by analyzing existing research to identify subconscious drivers that motivate vaccine hesitancy, developing a demo/psychographic profile of the target audience, identifying a trusted data partner and developing a target audience set.

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 some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.1%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 18th 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: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -114.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -97.9% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 54.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.1% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $205K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $73K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2022 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.