Yimby Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
815140915
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4154890197
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,162,308
Expenses
$1,750,703
Assets
$1,468,960
Liabilities
$28,585

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA FOOTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GILLIAN PRESSMAN (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $141,469 total reported compensation
  • JANE NATOLI (SF ORGANIZING DIRECTOR): $136,796 total reported compensation
  • LAURA FOOTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $133,503 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Yimby action is a non-profit policy advocate organization that seeks to promote social welfare by educating about and advocating for the construction of new housing and empowering others in the formation of similar organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Direct and grassroots advocacy to influence policymaking and govermental issues: yimby action lobbies state and local appointed and elected officials on housing issues, including proposed housing legislation and the approval of housing development, including through participation in at the public meetings of local, state, and federal govermental officials. Yimby action action also organizes volunteer housing advocates to attend such public meetings to lobby local and state officials on housing issues, conducts related letter/email-writing campaigns, social media campaigns, and otherwise attempts to bring about solutions to the shortage of housing near jobs through a change in the public discourse around housing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 38%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.8% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.