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Nonprofit · EIN 52-1343924

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC

Tax-exempt · WASHINGTON, DC 20006

Financials

$3.2M$3.3M2023$4.4M$3.5M2024
Revenue Expenses · by fiscal year end
Financials of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC by year, from its e-filed returns
Year endedFormRevenueExpensesNet incomeTotal assetsLiabilitiesNet assets
December 31, 2024990$4,425,035$3,458,567$966,468$1,916,444$387,475$1,528,969
December 31, 2023990$3,232,962$3,280,017-$47,055$920,881$356,252$564,629
Financial details: 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024

Revenue

Contributions, gifts and grants
$3,129,118
Program service revenue
$1,248,287
Investment income
$22,643
Net gain from sales of assets
$2,246
Other revenue
$24,987

Expenses

Grants and similar amounts paid
$0
Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
$139,215
Salaries, compensation and benefits (total)
$2,050,182
Professional fundraising fees
$24,262
Legal fees
$407,729
Accounting fees
$24,400
Occupancy
$96,911
Travel
$58,199
Depreciation
$5,677
Program services (functional)
$2,907,174
Management and general (functional)
$391,128
Fundraising (functional)
$160,265

Balance sheet and other

Total assets, start of year
$920,881
Total assets, end of year
$1,916,444
Total liabilities, end of year
$387,475
Net assets, end of year
$1,528,969
Land, buildings and equipment
$4,486
Publicly traded securities
$343,917
Net assets without donor restrictions
$1,107,281
Net assets with donor restrictions
$421,688
Gross receipts
$5,217,861
Employees
23
Volunteers
60
Year formed
1984
State of legal domicile
DC

From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.

Officers, directors and key employees

As listed on the 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024, highest compensation first.

NameTitleHours / weekCompensationOther / benefits
Louis ClarkExecutive Director &CEO
Trustee or director, Officer, Highest-paid employee
50$139,215$43,222
Karen GrayGeneral Counsel
Highest-paid employee
50$122,696$18,256
James HardenChief Financial Officer
Officer
50$107,114$23,230
Richard SalzmanChair
Trustee or director, Officer
2$0$0
Susan CarleBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Getulio P CarvalhoBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Mark CohenBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Patrice McDermottBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Kirke KickingbirdBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Michael TerminiBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Priya BaskaranBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
990 for the year ended December 31, 2023: 13 people
NameTitleHours / weekCompensationOther / benefits
Louis ClarkExecutive Director &CEO
Trustee or director, Officer, Highest-paid employee
50$132,169$33,538
Michael TerminiChief of Staff & Chief Operating Officer
Highest-paid employee
50$126,165$30,212
Thomas DevineLegal Director
Trustee or director, Highest-paid employee
50$113,464$22,238
Karen GrayGeneral Counsel
Highest-paid employee
50$117,736$16,020
James HardenChief Financial Officer
Officer
50$103,164$20,496
Jack KolarLitigation Director
Highest-paid employee
50$107,575$14,543
Richard SalzmanChair
Trustee or director, Officer
2$0$0
Susan CarleBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Getulio P CarvalhoBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Mark CohenBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Patrice McDermottBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Kirke KickingbirdBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0
Bradford WeeksBoard Member
Trustee or director
2$0$0

Address and contacts

Address (IRS master file)
1612 K ST NW STE 808, WASHINGTON, DC 20006-2809
Principal officer (990 for 2024)
Louis Clark, 1612 K Street NW Suite 808, Washington, DC 20006
Signed the 990
Louis Clark, CEO
Phone
(202) 457-0034
Return prepared by
ACCOUNTING WITH DEBITS & CREDITS IN

Mission

Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 48-year-old non-profit public interest organization that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. GAP is the worlds leading whistleblower protection organization.

990 for the year ended December 31, 2024

Program accomplishments

  • FOOD INTEGRITY & CORPORATE/GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), we represent two contract farmers who have raised concerns about the unfair practices of Purdue Farms, the company for which they once worked. On their behalf we filed a complaint with the US Department of Labor and during the resulting administrative law proceedings, the Administrative Law Judge found that the FSMA did apply to these farmers and that their whistleblowing through non-governmental organizations qualified for protection under the act. During 2024 while the parties were pursuing discovery, Perdue sued Craig Watts, one of the farmers, and the Department of Labor in federal district court alleging that his 7th Amendment right to a jury trial was violated by the FSMA. We are actively opposing this attempt to cripple an important protection for food safety whistleblowers. We were able to push back against efforts to weaken the Packers and Stockyard Act and able to share our recommendations for the implementation of the laws final rules. Three of the four suggestions we offered were included included in the final regulations. We also supported legislation to increase traceability efforts in food as well as increased transparency and communication not only between federal and state agencies, but from companies themselves as well. We advocated for several pieces of legislation that would strengthen whistleblower protections, including legislation that would grant the same whistleblowers protections to the Legislative Branch as other governmental or corporate employees enjoy. Our Know Your Rights campaign continued as we made presentations to a number of federal employees across agencies,including the FDA, DOJ, and USDA. We submitted a statement to Congress in support of the April 16, 2024, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Legacy of Harm: Eliminating the Abuse of Solitary Confinement. The report detailed our whistleblowers disclosures and extensive work on the subject. After we reported multiple whistleblower to Congress, the Office of Special Counsel, and the Department of Homeland Security about misconduct from the Acting CPB Chief Medical Officer throughout 2024, he was removed from his position in December. We reached a resolution with the White House Office of Science and Technology over a whistleblower complaint regarding the Presidents then-top advisor in 2022 who was accused of bullying and demeaning his subordinates. Though the terms and nature of the resolution remain confidential, we can disclose that an agreement was reached. We researched and filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court on behalf of US Senators Charles Grassley and Ron Wyden to contest a corporate whistleblower case decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit which upended the burdens of proof in nearly every federal whistleblower law in the nation, including Sarbanes Oxley, the Safe Food Modernization Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and over twenty other laws protecting whistleblowers who expose violations of law, environmental dangers, public health threats, worker endangerment, and government fraud. The unacceptable burden of proof established by the panel of judges would force a whistleblower to prove that the his or her employer had acted out of malice in retaliating against the employee for their whistleblowing. We filed the amicus in February 2023, and in February 2024 the Court overturned the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a unanimous decision. It was the first time the Supreme Court has ever rendered a decision about the burdens of proof first established in 1989 with the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Act. We collaborated with several coalition partners and allies including Campaign for Agriculture Reform and Safe Food Coalition. With them, we have been able to share our legislative recommendations to strengthen legislation regarding public and food safety. With the Safe Food Coalition, we formally advocated against attempts to delay important food safety protections, such as the full implementation of FSMA, and expressed support for bills that address gaps in the FDAs authority to address food and safety concerns.
    Expenses $2,448,871
  • ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE In April 2024, we released the fourth installment of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Report that reveals terrifying consequences of cleanup with the use of the chemical Corexit. The report, released just before before the 14th memorial of the oil disaster, features nearly two dozen new affidavits from whistleblowers including cleanup workers, residents, journalists, medical personnel, filmmakers, BP contractors and an EPA official. As a whole, they reveal the devastating long-term and ongoing effects of oil and a toxic chemical dispersant on their bodies and the environment. In August, along with the ALERT Project we filed a petition to the EPA and the UN to delist Corexit and ban the use of its stockpiles. This follows our successful push to get the manufacturer to stop producing the toxic chemical. Our efforts to investigate the catastrophic train derailment from early 2023 have continued, and in July 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) opened an investigation into the Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT) flight missions, policies, procedures, and quality assurance project plans employed during EPAs response to the disaster. This investigation was launched after our whistleblowers exposed discrepancies between their results and the results from the contractors hired by the railway company. These whistleblowers found significantly higher levels of toxins throughout the community compared to what the corporate contractor reported. In September, we filed a petition based on four whistleblower disclosures to the EPA to start hotline to the EPAs OIG to investigate the mishandling of the situation. In December 2024, we sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FEMAs parent agency, for failing to generate responsive documents to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made earlier regarding FEMAs role in the East Palestine, Ohio, Train Derailment response.
    Expenses $221,380
  • INTERNATIONAL In 2024 the first Spanish-language whistleblower website launched in Chile, where whistleblower rights are a novelty among the legal community. The website, Whistleblower Chile, gives people access to resources and creates awareness about whistleblowing, including Chilean case law, statutes,and profiles of whistleblowers from Chile and other Spanish-language countries. This project was created by our Senior International Fellow for Latin America, Jorge Martnez Rivera. In 2024, Government Accountability Project wrapped up its three-year project in Serbia with Pitaljka/Eutopia Association to help increase the capacity of future lawyers to practice anti-corruption and whistleblower law and provide legal services to whistleblowers through increasing University of Belgrade Law School students knowledge of whistleblower law and teaching them lawyering skills. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. In July 2024, Government Accountability Projects International Director and Senior International Fellow for Latin America attended Transparency Internationals Anti-Corruption Conference in Lithuania. Our International Director spoke on a panel on international whistleblower rights. In August 2024, Government Accountability Projects International Director and Legal Director traveled to Oslo, Norway to present their research on the implementation of the European Union whistleblower directive. International Whistleblowing Research Network organized the conference. In October 2024, Government Accountability Project received a subgrant from the Association for the Promotion of Good Governance and Performance SHIFT in Croatia to implement a projected funded by the U.S. Department of State. The name of the project is Supporting transparency of governance and strengthening whistleblower protections in Croatia. In May 2024, Government Accountability Projects International Director, Legal Director, and Senior International Fellow for Latin America participated in a a project to help the Directorate-General for Ethics and Government Integrity (DIGEIG) develop a draft law on the protection of whistleblowers. This project was supported by the Program for the Development of Commercial Law (CLDP) of the United States Department of Commerce, and USAID and included a workshop in the Dominican Republic in November 2024, where we presented international best practices for whistleblower legislation. The Government Accountability Project continued to provide global leadership with Legal Director Tom Devine continuing to serve on the Board of Whistleblowing International Network (WIN) and International Director Samantha Feinstein continuing as Vice Chair of the Board on the United Nation Convention Against Corruption committee. GAP helped WIN prepare a policy rebuttal and engage in public advocacy leading to withdrawal of an anti-whistleblower law in Slovakia that would have violated the 2019 EU Whistleblower Directive for which GAP was on the front lines of development. We sourced nonpublic datasets from several different corporate secrecy havens in the Americas that will provide the basis for collaborative investigative projects. Co-hosted by the US Embassy in Mexico and other organizations, our international program director traveled to Mexico City in April 2024 for the 4th roundtable meeting on Combatting Corruption through Whistleblowers in Mexico. With the objective of developing a potential law through training and mentorship, GAP presented the 20 best whistleblower practices and a general overview of international whistleblowing practices. Our work also included a workshop to develop principles for a future whistleblower law in Mexico. When a delegation from Mexico came to DC on a whistleblower study tour, we provided an overview of whistleblower laws and frameworks and discussed the role of the relationship between civil society and the government. In May 2024, Government Accountability Project submitted a letter to the UN Internal Justice Council recommending 62 practical internal policy improvements to reform its internal justice system and whistleblower protections to conform with international best practices. We also continued to represent whistleblowers from the UN and other international organizations.
    Expenses $236,923

What it must file and when

IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in December, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.

Tax yearYear endedDueIRS public records
2025December 31, 2025May 15, 2026Not on file
2024December 31, 2024May 15, 2025990 on file
2023December 31, 2023May 15, 2024990 on file

IRS record

EIN
52-1343924
Tax-exempt status
501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization
Foundation status
Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
Donations deductible (Pub 78)
Public charity, 50% deduction limit
Exempt since
1984
Accounting year ends
December
Files
Form 990 or 990-EZ
Assets (IRS master file)
$1,916,444
Income (IRS master file)
$5,217,861

Filing history

FormYear endedRevenueExpensesAssetsReturn
990December 2024$4,425,035$3,458,567$1,916,444XML
990December 2023$3,232,962$3,280,017$920,881XML
990December 2022$2,943,653$3,587,660$1,138,263IRS
990December 2021–––IRS
990December 2020–––IRS
990December 2018–––IRS

990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 52-1343924).

Questions about GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC

What is the EIN of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC?
The employer identification number (EIN) of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC is 52-1343924.
Is GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC tax-exempt?
Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1984.
Are donations to GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC tax-deductible?
Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).
Which annual return does GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC file?
Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.
When is the next return of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC due?
The return for tax year 2025 (the year ending December 31, 2025) is due May 15, 2026. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.
When did GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC last file with the IRS?
The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended December 2024.
Who is the principal officer of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC?
The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 names Louis Clark.
Who are the officers and directors of GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC?
The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 lists 11 people; 3 received compensation from the organization, the highest $139,215 (Louis Clark, Executive Director &CEO).
How much revenue does GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC have?
On its 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 it reported revenue of $4,425,035, expenses of $3,458,567 and total assets of $1,916,444 at year end.

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