Backbone Campaign amplifies the aspirations of We the People with creative strategies and artful activism

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
77¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$122K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2020 · 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
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $129K a year · 28% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
77%
of spending
Looks good: 77% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$122K
to officers and key staff · 46% of spending
Concern: pay to officers and key staff is 46% of spending; over 30%.
Pt VII · Sec A
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Plus $109K in investments, Pt X · Ln 11–13
Looks good: 3.7 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
5
named funders · $24K
Looks good: 5 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$4K
2% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 2% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
10
of 10 voting members
Looks good: 10 of 10 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$370K
Spent
$267K
To programs
77%
Net assets
$193K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$370K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$370K
FY2021$458K
FY2022$306K
FY2023$412K
FY2024$762K
Expenses
$267K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$267K
FY2021$290K
FY2022$301K
FY2023$380K
FY2024$425K
Net assets
$193K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$193K
FY2021$415K
FY2022$375K
FY2023$440K
FY2024$799K

From the FY2020 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2020 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Dec 2001.

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

Where the money goes

77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 77% · $205K Management & general 16% · $43K Fundraising 7% · $19K

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

12 people listed on the 990; $122K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Deputy Director
$62,500Pt VII · Sec A
Executive Director
$60,000Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

William Moyer’s $70K as Executive Director is at the 61st percentile of top reported officer pay among 2168 $100K–1M human services 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
William Moyer$70,411$65,549$61,835$65,000—
Amy Morrison$62,553$65,549$60,539$61,650$62,500
Bill Moyer————$60,000

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.

See Backbone Campaign executive salaries →

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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

Amplifies people's aspirations using creative strategies and artful activism.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $173K · in their own filed words · FY2020
01

Artful Activism

In this unusual year, we prioritized our solidarity actions and trainings to bolster the voices of marginalized workers and communities. Our creative props, including lights for projection and banners, were able to be deployed safely and responsibly, even amidst the pandemic.

$85Kprogram expense
02

Solutionary Rail

In 2020, the solutionary rail project focused on building alliances and relationships with a broad spectrum of coalitions and organizations. Solutionary rail is present and visible in various climate and environmental justice coalitions, labor, agriculture and rural community organizations.

$73Kprogram expense
03

Local Resilience

Backbone campaign took the opportunity of the pandemic to study how our society might decommodify community systems, decolonize our time and our lives, and re-indigenize to protect the places we love.

$15Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

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

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
See all 5 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2020 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$370K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$248K
Investment incomeLn 3$61K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$56K
Money outPt IX
$267K
Ln 25
Programscol B$205K
Managementcol C$43K
Fundraisingcol D$19K
Owns and owesPt X
$193K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$82K
Total assetsLn 16$197K
LiabilitiesLn 26$4K
PeoplePt VI, VII
12
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a10
IndependentVI 1b10
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$248K
Government grantsLn 1e$39K
Noncash giftsLn 1g$26K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$56K
Investment incomeLn 3$61K
Other incomeLn 4–11$4K
Gains on assetsLn 7$61K
Total revenueLn 12$370K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$57K
SavingsLn 2$25K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$82K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$109K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$5K
Other assetsLn 15$300
Total assetsLn 16$197K
LiabilitiesLn 26$4K
Net assetsLn 32$193K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 53
VolunteersI 675
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 FY20End FY20
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$24K$82K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$87K$109K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$0$5K
Total assetsLn 16$112K$197K
LiabilitiesLn 26$4K$4K
Net assetsLn 32$108K$193K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$122K$98K$14K$11K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$8K$7K$939
Other employee benefitsLn 9$9K$7K$1K$835
Payroll taxesLn 10$12K$10K$1K$1K
Legal feesLn 11b$2K$1K$314
Accounting feesLn 11c$5K$5K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$48K$48K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$372$317$55
Office expensesLn 13$15K$6K$4K$6K
Information technologyLn 14$6K$2K$4K$215
OccupancyLn 16$9K$3K$6K
TravelLn 17$7K$7K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$360$360
InsuranceLn 23$3K$3K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$19K$16K$3K$84
Total functional expensesLn 25$267K$205K$43K$19K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest $762K$425K$338K$799K 990 PDF
FY2023 $412K$380K$32K$440K 990 PDF
FY2022 $306K$301K$5K$375K 990 PDF
FY2021 $458K$290K$168K$415K 990 PDF
FY2020 Viewing $370K$267K$103K$193K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support M · Noncash O · Explanations
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $369,795 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $260,465$248,343
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $35,045$55,954
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $90$61,139
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$11,851$4,359
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $283,749$369,795
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $7,762$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $157,328$152,287
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $147,072$114,380
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $312,162$266,667
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$28,413$103,128
Part VI · Governance 10 of 10 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body10
VI-1b Independent voting members10
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $369,795 across 10 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $375 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1e Government grants$38,776
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$209,567
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$25,717
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$248,343
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $55,954$55,954
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $508$508
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $578$578
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $60,631$60,631
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax $3,406$3,406
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $55,954 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $65,498$369,795
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $266,667 across 15 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $97,625 · Management $13,700 · Fundraising $11,175$122,500
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $7,259 · Management $939$8,198
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $7,420 · Management $1,020 · Fundraising $835$9,275
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $9,820 · Management $1,373 · Fundraising $1,121$12,314
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $1,444 · Management $314$1,758
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $5,472$5,472
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $47,616$47,616
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $317 · Fundraising $55$372
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $5,705 · Management $3,792 · Fundraising $5,518$15,015
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $1,915 · Management $4,243 · Fundraising $215$6,373
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $3,111 · Management $6,039$9,150
IX-17 TravelPrograms $7,022$7,022
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationManagement $360$360
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $2,718$2,718
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $15,889 · Management $2,551 · Fundraising $84$18,524
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $205,143 · Management $42,521 · Fundraising $19,003$266,667
Part X · Balance sheet $196,991 assets, 11 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $19,201$57,459
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $5,287$24,510
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $0$5,393
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $87,058$109,329
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $355$300
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $111,901$196,991
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $4,090$4,290
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $4,090$4,290
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $107,811$192,701
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $107,811$192,701
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $111,901$196,991
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $192,701 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$369,795
XI-2 Total expenses$266,667
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$103,128
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$107,811
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments−$18,268
XI-8 Prior period adjustments$30
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$192,701

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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