Methods
This document is your essential resource for understanding the methodology behind EcoMap's Nonprofit Intelligence Dashboard. By understanding how we collect and categorize information, you'll be even better equipped to articulate the value and reliability of this data.
Data Sources:
These visualizations are populated with data from the IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax or the related 990EZ form where appropriate.
Normalization & Peer Comparison:
To normalize the data and allow for realistic peer comparison, organizations have been grouped by Annual Budget Tier, or 'Tier', according to total yearly expenses listed on an organization's tax form.
Each tier refers to a group of organizations with annual budgets within a certain range:
- Tier 1: annual budgets less than $100,000
- Tier 2: annual budgets $100,000 or more but less than $500,000
- Tier 3: annual budgets $500,000 or more but less than $1M
- Tier 4: annual budgets $1M or more but less than $5M
- Tier 5: annual budgets $5M or more
'Tier Average' data points indicate the average of the equivalent data points for the organizations in the relevant annual budget tier – i.e. the tier that the Organization was in that year.
Indicators:
Each visualization refers to a certain indicator of nonprofit financial health, and is populated with data collected and processed from each year's 990 form via formulas detailed below.
Badges:
Each visualization also features an oval "percent change badge", colored green to reflect a healthy trend in the data displayed or red to indicate unhealthy behavior. Unless otherwise noted, the badge refers to: Percent change between the averaged value of all shown tiers in the first year shown versus the averaged value in the last year shown. Badges respond to the time span and Tier toggles in the top bar of the dashboard. Clicking the Tier names in a graph's legend will remove the Tier from the graph display - but will not adjust the percent change displayed in the badge.
Formulas:
- Operating Reserve Ratio: Total Net Assets / Total Expenses
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Grant Dependency: Measures proportion of total income that comes from grants
- Total Contributions divided by Total Expenses
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Revenue Diversity: Variety of funding sources
- Per revenue source: total from a revenue source divided by total contributions
- Badge: Percent change of averaged Shannon Diversity Index value of all tiers shown between the first and last year shown. Shannon Diversity Index weighs the distribution and variety of funding sources, giving a score that typically ranges from 0 to 4.5. A 0 score indicates no diversity - all revenue comes from one source. A higher score indicates greater diversity of funding sources and a more balanced distribution among funding sources.
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Program Efficiency: Percentage of expenses allocated directly to program services compared to total expenses
- Total Expenses divided by Total Revenue
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Expense Allocation
- Per expense group: Area of Expense divided by Total Expenses
- Badge: Percent change of averaged program services proportion of all shown tiers between the first and last year shown
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Fundraising Efficiency: Cost to raise one dollar of funds
- Total Fundraising Expenses divided by Total Contributions
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Current Ratio: Current assets to current liabilities
- Total Assets divided by Total Liabilities
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Debt-to-Equity Ratio: ratio of total liabilities to total net assets
- Total Liabilities divided by Total Net Assets at the end of the year
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Cash Flow Stability: Regular monitoring of cash inflows/outflows
- Total Revenue divided by Total Expenses
Limitations
Expense Allocation: Some data points needed for this indicator are not yet available in 2024 filings. The missing data will appear in the chart when they become available.
The 990 EZ offers less granularity on certain data points. If an organization filed the 990 EZ, the likelihood of empty states on the Revenue Diversity, Expense Allocation, and Fundraising Efficiency indicators is higher.
The visualizations reflect the data available as of the date the information was acquired. Missing data points indicate missing or zero values on the corresponding IRS form.
If null values & zeros are present in the data needed for indicators for which a ratio is calculated, the chart will show a blank, rather than a value at zero.
If you notice other places where the charts seem to have incorrect data, please contact support@ecomap.tech
Other caveats
This dashboard is EcoMap's analysis of the relevant data and is subject to change at any time. Visualizations are populated with publicly available data and are intended for informational purposes only.
Last updated: 8/7/25