Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 2014.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
23 people listed on the 990; $1.3M paid to officers and key staff.
Nicholas Penniman’s $354K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 94th percentile of top reported officer pay among 731 $1–10M public & societal benefit nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Penniman | $353,747 | $328,108 | $298,141 | $253,861 | — | — |
| Amelia Leonardi | $280,791 | $230,475 | $205,472 | $165,855 | $160,117 | $146,394 |
| Nick Penniman | — | — | — | — | $255,285 | $227,991 |
| Ethan Rome | $192,024 | $239,844 | $220,197 | $181,647 | $175,429 | $150,070 |
| Louisa Imperiale | $214,511 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Meredith McGehee | — | — | — | $145,994 | $204,975 | $187,177 |
| Nilmini Rubin | — | — | — | — | $194,337 | — |
| Anne Snouck-Hurgronje | — | — | $180,868 | $160,348 | $154,020 | $139,358 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Unites bipartisan leaders and citizens to strengthen American democracy by reducing the influence of big money, protecting elections, and passing structural political reforms.
Questions for Issue One
Your first name shows with your question. Issue One answers here, for everyone.
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Congressional leadership and engagementissue one's reformer's caucus, the issue one-inspired congressional reformers caucus, both of which are half republican and half democratic, champion the policies that issue one believes will address the dysfunction in congress - from transparency laws to campaign finance enforcement measures.
Field capacity buildingissue one builds the capacity of the democracy reform field by incubating new and innovative projects within the nonprofit, journalism and private sectors to advance our mission of addressing the structural dysfunction in our democracy and to expand the capacity of the public to do so.
Public education and advocacy issue one educates and advocates to win reforms to increase transparency, strengthen ethics and accountability, and reduce the role of big money in politics. We have a strong presence on capitol hill, as well as in the media, and provide expertise to groups advancing reform measures at the state level.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.1M | $1.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $109K | $82K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $2.6M | $2.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $344K | $344K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $2.2M | $2.1M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $86K | $86K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $630K | $318K | $198K | $114K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $2.0M | $1.7M | $96K | $273K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $73K | $59K | $3K | $11K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $182K | $140K | $27K | $16K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $191K | $146K | $19K | $27K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $25K | $24K | $1K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $48K | $48K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $3K | $3K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $1.1M | $1.1M | $29K | $15K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $3K | $2K | $2K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $85K | $37K | $31K | $17K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $6K | $2K | $4K | $229 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $314K | $104K | $206K | $3K |
| TravelLn 17 | $133K | $86K | $25K | $23K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $16K | $16K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $8K | $5K | $3K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $198K | $354K | −$262K | $106K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $5.1M | $4.1M | $443K | $609K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $6.9M | $9.5M | −$2.7M | $7.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $14.8M | $8.2M | $6.6M | $10.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $7.9M | $8.2M | −$293K | $3.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $7.0M | $6.3M | $701K | $5.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $19.4M | $16.3M | $3.1M | $5.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $5.0M | $5.1M | −$154K | $2.1M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $4,971,211 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $4,971,211 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $5,124,938 across 18 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $2,402,517 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,058,260 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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