Western Energy Freedom Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851013487
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Lakewood, CO, USA
Phone
7209899745
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,615,013
Expenses
$2,801,344
Assets
$1,531,365
Liabilities
$66,018

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHLEEN STAKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ PRESIDENT)
  • ANDREW SAND (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHLEEN STAKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/ PRESIDENT): $275,000 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW SAND (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $215,000 total reported compensation
  • SARAH DERDOWSKI (DIRECTOR): $30,012 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to enable the delivery of low-cost electricity and energy freedom to the west through an efficient and integrated grid system.

What it reported doing in 2024

Western freedom is building a broad coalition of grassroots and grasstops support with real, practical political power to drive policy, legislative, and regulatory changes that enable electricity customers and ratepayers in western states to access more affordable and cleaner energy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 28
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 91.7%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 99; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.5%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.1% of revenue deployed · 91.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $275K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.