Active Minds Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Active Minds mobilizes youth and young adults to lead a transformative movement in mental health, forever changing how it is valued and prioritized in society.
- Income
- $9.0 million
- Spending
- $9.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 82%
- Reserves
- 11.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 88%
- Employees
- 74
- Volunteers
- 13,485
- Highest pay
- $349,473, founderexecutive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 82 out of 100. Higher than 72% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 11.3 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 12% of what it owns.
Living within its means
4 of 15Spending exceeded income by 9% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 36% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1582% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 12 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 69% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2517 of 18 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (6)
- $4.1 million spent. Chapter Development and Support: Active Minds is dedicated to promoting the young adult voice in mental health. In 2024-2025, the organization supported chapters on more than 500 college and high school campuses in all 50 U.S. states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico. These chapters mobilized 13,485 volunteers, who directly reached more than one million young adults with vital information about mental health, making change in schools and the community around mental health policy, suicide prevention, promoting mental health, and available resources for seeking help through unique Active Minds programming and training.
- $1.6 million spent. Active Minds in K-12 Schools: Active Minds is exponentially growing in K-12 schools, bringing chapter programming, trainings, and youth mobilization models to students and their adult allies in high schools and middle schools. 704 K-12 schools used Active Minds programing in 2024-2025.
- $680,000 spent. Public Education and Awareness Campaigns: Active Minds has created Awareness Campaigns for our chapters, partners, and supporters such as A-S-K, Suicide Prevention Month, and Stress Less Week. During these programs, students and community members are introduced to mental health topics that are often misunderstood. By educating through innovative and relevant means including existing student networks (ie fraternities and sororities, honor societies, athletics), a comprehensive website at www.activeminds.org, digital means including Slack, and an interactive presence on social media, Active Minds aims to raise public consciousness and change the way mental health issues are understood and publicly approached. In 2024-2025, more than 1,000 campuses and communities ran Active Minds Public Education and Awareness Campaigns.
- $599,000 spent. Active Minds Speakers: Research shows that the best way to break stigma around mental health is through personal contact. As a result, Active Minds has recruited and trained 22 professional speakers to tell their stories around mental health in an engaging, educational, and powerful manner. Members of Active Minds Speakers travel the country and/or provide virtual presentations, at high schools, colleges, and workplaces; to parents and administrators; and at conferences and national events throughout the year. In 2024-2025, the Active Minds Speakers held 133 speaking engagements both in person and virtually.
- $570,000 spent. Send Silence Packing, suicide awareness program: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young adults, and each one of those deaths touches us all. Send Silence Packing is an award-winning exhibit of donated backpacks representing the young adult lives lost to suicide every year, complemented with a digital Behind the Backpacks experience. Active Minds has collected backpacks and personal stories in memory or in honor of loved ones impacted by suicide. Send Silence Packing carries the message that preventing suicide is not just about lowering statistics, but also about saving the lives of students, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters and friends.
- $460,000 spent. Your Voice is Your Power and Transform Your Campus Policy Change Campaigns: By mobilizing the next generation to use their voice and their experiences to change policy and build the next generation of the workforce, we are making lasting change in the mental health landscape for years to come. Nearly 200 high schools, colleges, and universities engaged in the Transform Your Campus and Your Voice is Your Power advocacy trainings,and hundreds of youth engaged with Cause and Career workforce development in 2024-2025.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 2004.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.