Fair Democracy EIN 82-2747849 Form 990 (PDF) Claim this org

Fair Democracy FY2024 filing

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Strengthens democracy by protecting voting rights, engaging voters, and promoting accountable government and civil discourse. For fiscal year 2024 it reported $9.3M in revenue, $8.6M in expenses, and $1.3M in net assets.Pt I

Founded
2017
Type
Membership association · Civil Rights & Advocacy
Location
Washington, DC
Filings
5 on file (2020–2024)
Revenue
$9.3MFY2024
Expenses
$8.6M
Net assets
$1.3M
People
8
Filings
5
Updates
0
More identity details & actions ⌄
EIN  82-2747849 Membership association Washington, DC Founded 2017
Form 990 (PDF)
You’re viewing the FY2024 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →
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Figures match the IRS filing checked 8/13/26 · see original: IRS
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Size
$1–10M
What they do
Strengthens democracy by protecting voting rights, engaging voters, and promoting accountable government and civil discourse.
Leadership
David Cohen · Director, President, Co-Ceo · $62K
Money in and out
$9.3M revenue, $8.6M expenses
Bottom line
+7% operating surplus
Membership & operating revenue · FY2024
Total revenue
$9.3M
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$8.6M
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$1.3M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): $683K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.97 Management & general $0.02 Fundraising $0.01
Operating surplus
+7%
revenue over expenses
Earned revenue
0%
of revenue from program services & dues
Payroll share
5%
of spending is salaries & benefits

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2024 · Form 990
Revenue
$9.3M
FY2024▼ -28%
Expenses
$8.6M
FY2024▼ -32%
Total assets
$1.3M
FY2024▲ +117%
Total liabilities
$65K
FY2024▲ +71%
Total revenue
$9.3M
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$8.6M
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$1.3M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19$683K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$1.3M
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B97%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 33
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 41
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

1 program service account for $8.3M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2023.
01

Fair democracy works to build an engaged and informed electorate with state legislative tracking and voter education on a range of state-level issues, with a focus on voting rights, ethics in government, education, tax reform and health care.

$8.3Mprogram expense

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Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CFair Democracy
EINHdr · item D82-2747849
Principal addressHdr · item CWashington, DC
WebsiteHdr · item Jnone reported
Year of formationHdr · item L2017
State of legal domicileHdr · item MDC
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(4) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFCivil Rights & Advocacy (R01)
Ruling yearIRS BMFOct 2020

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a3
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b1
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2023); the FY2024 filing did not itemize Part VII
Director, President, Co-Ceo
$62,500Pt VII · Sec A
Director, Treasurer, Co-Ceo
$62,500Pt VII · Sec A
State Director
$42,000Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Innovation Officer
$31,500Pt VII · Sec A
Creative Director
$16,375Pt VII · Sec A
Campaigns Director
$8,500Pt VII · Sec A
Political Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

David Cohen’s $162K as Director, President, Co-Ceo is at the 64th percentile of top reported officer pay among 796 $1–10M civil rights & advocacy 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

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
David Cohen$162,500$62,500$102,742$159,003$49,503$105,104
Victoria Hausman$100,000$62,500$134,195$127,632$31,250$61,563
Jeff Rotkoff$120,000$42,000$82,701
Benjamin Wexler-Waite$50,500$88,613
Ethan Roeder$65,275$31,500$56,175$64,644$41,162$66,013
Aaron Marquez$7,454$61,800
Emily Berman$59,304$23,438
Trent Armitage$43,167$8,500$31,945$53,187$30,315

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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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants100%$9.3M
Total revenueLn 12$9.3M

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.97 Management & general $0.02 Fundraising $0.01
Program services97%$8.3M
Management & general2%$196K
Fundraising1%$102K
Total functional expensesLn 25$8.6M

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$946K
Total assetsLn 16$1.3M
Total liabilitiesLn 26$65K
Total net assetsLn 32$1.3M
Months of cash on handcomputed1.3

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2024 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $946K · Operating expenses/yr $8.6M
1.3 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $8.3M · Total expenses $8.6M
97%
Management & General
Management & general $196K · Total expenses $8.6M
2%
Fundraising
Fundraising $102K · Total expenses $8.6M
1%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $185K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $7.8M
$0.02 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $9.3M · Total revenue $9.3M
100%
Government reliance
Government grants — · Total revenue $9.3M
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $0 · Total revenue $9.3M
0%
Investment reliance
Investment income $0 · Total revenue $9.3M
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $0 · Total expenses $8.6M
0%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $9.3M · Prior year $13.0M
-28%
Revenue CAGR
FY2019 $740K · FY2023 $9.3M
+88%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $1.3M · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $9.3M · Expenses $8.6M
+7%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $1.3M
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $1.3M · Total assets $1.3M
95%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $1.3M
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual David Cohen · Reported title DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT, CO-CEO · Highest reported compensation $62K · Total expenses $8.6M
0.7%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $428K · Total expenses $8.6M
5%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 97%
Overhead ratio 2%
Fundraising cost ratio 1%
Revenue growth -28%
Legal fee ratio 0.7%
Accounting fee ratio 0.1%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$50K
Grants paid · 34 grants · $21.9M · 2019–2024
Forward Majority ActionFY2024$1,065,000
Barbed Wire MediaFY2024$315,000
America VotesDC · FY2024$50,000
Texas Future CooperativeFY2024$10,000
Forward Majority ActionFY2023$2,740,000
Votevets Action Fund INCDC · FY2023$2,000,000
North Star ProsperityMN · FY2023$1,500,000
The Wisconsin Initiative INCWI · FY2023$450,000
Maryland Rise INCMD · FY2023$250,000
Freedom Virginia INCVA · FY2023$250,000
Texas Future CooperativeFY2023$25,000
Forward Majority ActionFY2022$2,717,277
New Day Nevada INCNV · FY2022$1,950,000
North Star ProsperityMN · FY2022$1,500,000
Guarding Against PandemicsDC · FY2022$1,000,000
Better Pennsylvania INCPA · FY2022$550,000
See all 34 grants →

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Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2024$9.3M revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$13.0M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$1.0M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$2.1M revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$740K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2024IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
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