4Th Second

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843202218
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Vallejo, CA, USA
Phone
7073350300
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,818,394
Expenses
$1,897,820
Assets
$1,292,416
Liabilities
$178,685

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Richard Fisher (President)
  • Hakeem Brown (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Richard Fisher (President): $63,592 total reported compensation
  • Emily Fisher (Vice Secretary): $26,213 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Grounded in community with a focus on root causes 4th second works to increase access to healthcare, food security, youth opportunity, housing solutions, and environmentl and social justice

What it reported doing in 2024

4th Second expanded upon its Youth Empowerment Program which seeks to address trauma, support resilience, and provide opportunities for all youth In 2024, 4th Second continued its work with 149 youth to support resilience building, mental health and to prevent substance abuse among low income youth ages 12-25. Participants attended weekly sessions where they learned stress reduction techniques, financial literacyincluding budgeting, credit management, and understanding taxesand human-centered design principles aimed at creating safe spaces in their community. To mitigate the traumatic impact of economic insecurity and poverty, youth were provided with basic income stipends. As part of their learning, the cohort conducted a Human-Centered Design Project, identifying the urgent need for safe spaces where youth in Vallejo could gather and connect. 4th Second opened its second youth-designed youth center in Vallejo in May 2024 where it was able to 4th Second launched weekly sessions at the newly established Safe Space, expanding its programming to address youth suicide prevention, substance use prevention, environmental health and advocacy, and young womens economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The weekly sessions covered critical topics such as mental health and suicide prevention, where youth participated in self-care activities and co-created a media campaign promoting suicide awareness. Financial literacy and workforce readiness were also key components, with sessions focused on budgeting, understanding credit, managing taxes and paychecks, as well as resume building and mock interviews. Additionally, youth engaged in sessions on environmental health where they examined the significance of safe green spaces, including community gardens, as areas where problem-solving skills and positive coping mechanisms could be developed. Further, youth worked in the newly created community garden to bring their designs to life in the physical space to create a relaxing and welcoming space where regular programming continued throughout 2024 and 2025 In the process the youth also learned about organic gardening techniques, including materials for raised beds and soil amendment practices. Beyond the physical aspects of gardening, youth engaged in self-reflection exercises, using nature-based mindfulness techniques to stay grounded.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 67
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.4%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 80.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 45.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 29 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.