Zcash Foundation

Tax-deductible

McLean, VA501(c)(3)Science & TechnologyEIN 82-0707962

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Our mission at the Zcash Foundation is to help sustain and improve open financial networks that allow anyone and everyone to protect their own privacy, on their own terms. While our primary focus is the Zcash protocol and blockchain, we also support broader applications of zero knowledge proofs, as well as other approaches to financial privacy.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
91¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 1 volunteers and 9 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $3.8M a year · 36% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
91%
of spending
Looks good: 91% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$561K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Top officer’s pay higher than 72% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 4.3 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Liabilities
$90K
0.4% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
5
of 6 voting members
Looks good: 5 of 6 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$3.8M
-21% vs prior year
Spent
$8.0M
To programs
91%
Net assets
$23.3M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$3.8M
FY2024▼ -21%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$4.3M
FY2021$26.4M
FY2022$13.0M
FY2023$4.7M
FY2024$3.8M
Expenses
$8.0M
FY2024▼ -20%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$2.8M
FY2021$5.6M
FY2022$7.1M
FY2023$9.9M
FY2024$8.0M
Net assets
$23.3M
FY2024▲ +45%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$15.4M
FY2021$31.1M
FY2022$21.6M
FY2023$16.0M
FY2024$23.3M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Sep 2017.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

91 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 91% · $7.3M Management & general 9% · $687K

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

8 people listed on the 990; $561K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Chief Operating Officer
$233,500Pt VII · Sec A
Executive Director
$201,647Pt VII · Sec A
Operations Director
$126,042Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Chairman/Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Alex Bornstein’s $234K as Chief Operating Officer is at the 72nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 363 $1–10M science & technology 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

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Deirdre Connolly—$261,240$324,933$302,842$295,225
Henry De Valence————$311,379
George Tankersley————$278,968
Jack Gavigan$201,647$273,678$256,642$142,100—
Alex Bornstein$233,500$223,167$215,585$102,217—
Antonie Hodge———$37,800$196,160
Chelsea Komlo———$190,551$122,535
Josh Cincinnati———$21,646$179,500

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

Builds and supports open financial networks for private, on-demand money.

Provided by the organization

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3 program services account for $6.6M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

Zcash Community Grants (ZCG, formerly Zcash Open Major Grants ZOMG) is a technical advisory board that constitutes a committee of the Zcash Foundation, under its bylaws. Grants are chosen by a committee of five members who are chosen by the Zcash Community Advisory Panel (ZCAP) in an open election.

$5.1Mprogram expense
02

Protocol & Governance

The Zcash protocol and the open network it powers is valuable, privacy-protecting Internet infrastructure; it should be developed and maintained by an open and diverse community of experts and enthusiasts. It is a tool for financial privacy available to the general public.

$982Kprogram expense
03

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.

$590Kprogram expense

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Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · this organization's grantmaking
Grants paid · 2 grants · $990K · 2021–2022
The Tor Project INCNH · FY2022$316,404
The Tor Project INCNH · FY2021$673,200

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$3.8M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$14K
Money outPt IX
$8.0M
Ln 25
Programscol B$7.3M
Managementcol C$687K
Owns and owesPt X
$23.3M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.9M
Total assetsLn 16$23.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$90K
PeoplePt VI, VII
8
listed · VII A
PaidVII A3
Voting boardVI 1a6
IndependentVI 1b5
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.4M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$4.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$14K
Gains on assetsLn 7−$675K
Total revenueLn 12$3.8M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
SavingsLn 2$2.9M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$2.9M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$19.6M
Total assetsLn 16$23.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$90K
Net assetsLn 32$23.3M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 59
VolunteersI 61
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$5.0M$2.9M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$10.2M$19.6M
Total assetsLn 16$16.2M$23.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$146K$90K
Net assetsLn 32$16.0M$23.3M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$902K$902K
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$499K$499K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$3.4M$3.4M
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$447K$320K$127K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$474K$422K$53K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$18K$13K$5K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$99K$84K$15K
Payroll taxesLn 10$42K$30K$12K
Legal feesLn 11b$174K$3K$171K
Accounting feesLn 11c$60K$60K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$1.4M$1.4M$17K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$2K$2K
Office expensesLn 13$210K$103K$107K
Information technologyLn 14$10K$10K$320
TravelLn 17$13K$12K$445
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$81K$78K$3K
InsuranceLn 23$33K$33K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$85K$2K$83K
Total functional expensesLn 25$8.0M$7.3M$687K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $3.8M$8.0M−$4.2M$23.3M 990 PDF
FY2023 $4.7M$9.9M−$5.2M$16.0M 990 PDF
FY2022 $13.0M$7.1M$5.9M$21.6M 990 PDF
FY2021 $26.4M$5.6M$20.8M$31.1M 990 PDF
FY2020 $4.3M$2.8M$1.5M$15.4M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,769,087 across 6 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$4,430,505
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$4,422,105
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$4,430,505
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $13,843$13,843
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax −$675,261−$675,261
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$661,418$3,769,087
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $7,952,534 across 18 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $902,400$902,400
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $498,800$498,800
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $3,370,612$3,370,612
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $319,990 · Management $127,249$447,239
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $421,603 · Management $52,578$474,181
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $13,234 · Management $5,263$18,497
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $84,263 · Management $14,596$98,859
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $30,394 · Management $12,086$42,480
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $2,808 · Management $171,186$173,994
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $59,731$59,731
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $1,415,208 · Management $17,214$1,432,422
IX-12 Advertising and promotionManagement $1,789$1,789
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $103,012 · Management $106,690$209,702
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $9,878 · Management $320$10,198
IX-17 TravelPrograms $12,384 · Management $445$12,829
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $78,272 · Management $2,816$81,088
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $32,644$32,644
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $2,391 · Management $82,678$85,069
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $7,265,249 · Management $687,285 · Fundraising $0$7,952,534
Part X · Balance sheet $23,362,496 assets, 12 lines filed
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $5,001,500$2,872,025
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $81,925$28,701
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $10,183,381$19,572,744
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $889,026$889,026
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $16,155,832$23,362,496
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $130,566$89,824
X-18 Grants payableStart of year $15,000$0
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $145,566$89,824
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year −$3,726,888$5,576,426
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $19,737,154$17,696,246
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $16,010,266$23,272,672
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $16,155,832$23,362,496
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $23,272,672 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$3,769,087
XI-2 Total expenses$7,952,534
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$4,183,447
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$16,010,266
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$11,445,853
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$23,272,672

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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