Zcash Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
820707962
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
McLean, VA, USA
Phone
5714185390
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,769,087
Expenses
$7,952,534
Assets
$23,362,496
Liabilities
$89,824

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jack Gavigan (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alex Bornstein (Chief Operating Officer): $245,592 total reported compensation
  • Jack Gavigan (Executive Director): $201,647 total reported compensation
  • Danika Delano (Operations Director): $139,642 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Zcash Foundation is a public charity that builds financial privacy infrastructure for the public good, primarily serving the users of the Zcash protocol and blockchain. The Foundation also supports other applications of zero-knowledge cryptography, as well as other approaches to private cryptocurrency.

What it reported doing in 2024

FROST: FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold) is a cryptographic protocol that enables efficient and secure threshold signing--where only a minimum number of participants are required to generate a valid signature. FROST advances the state of the art in threshold Schnorr signature schemes by significantly reducing network overhead and supporting concurrent signing operations without compromising security. Its novel design includes safeguards against known forgery attacks, making it a robust and flexible tool for modern cryptographic applications. The Zcash Foundation supports the continued development and adoption of FROST as part of its mission to advance privacy-preserving infrastructure.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 66% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -111%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $7.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $246K · 8 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $871K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.