Zing Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571190359
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Arlington, MA, USA
Phone
7816461705
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Reported finances

Revenue
$311,278
Expenses
$296,110
Assets
$13,510
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEVANI LIPTON (CHAIR/PRESIDENT)
  • JASON FRANKLIN (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • LEVANI LIPTON (CHAIR/PRESIDENT)
  • JILL WARREN (SECRETARY AND PROXY TREASURER)
  • KIMBERLY WRIGHT (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

-increase charitable giving to those in need. -promote civic interest and community involvement through interactive culture.

What it reported doing in 2015

Bolder giving, founded in 2007, challenges the norms and stereotypes that constrain charitable giving and works to inspire us all to:-give more - increasing our giving as a percentage of income, assets or business profits; -risk more - shifting how we give, including giving collaboratively, to communities with the greatest need, to social change as well as to charity, to entrepreneurial efforts, to smaller and emerging groups, and; -inspire more - sharing our giving stories to spark conversations about generositywe approach this work through a focus on two key strategies - inspiration: we gather and share inspirational stories of bold giving from people across the economic spectrum, and action: we develop tools and advice to inspire actionable steps that help individuals transform their giving. We know that people can take leaps forward when given both role models and personal support. Stories of bold givers - people giving at 20%, 50%, and even 90%+ of their income or assets - have inspired others to increase their own giving 10-fold, 100-fold, and sometimes more. The focus of our work in fy16 has been broad ranging. Some of our key program highlights include:-adding a wide range of new stories to our library of amazing bold givers. Newly profiled people give to a wide range of issues like economic justice and domestic worker rights, leadership for environmental sustainability, and support for democracy and civic engagement.-hosting bold conversations which drew almost 1000 people on topics ranging from overcoming our philanthropic fears to exploring the dynamics of philanthropy in the black community.-hosting the 4th annual give out day as part of our ongoing lgbtq equality initiative. This national day of giving raises significant funds and also engages new donors for the lgbtq community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 64% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $56.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 4.9%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -44.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -29.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $273K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.