Advokids
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943157218
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Corte Madera, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4159240587
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,037,060
- Expenses
- $852,246
- Assets
- $766,255
- Liabilities
- $14,462
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Karen Wright (President)
- Cheick Diarra (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Margaret Coyne (E.D. & Director): $85,000 total reported compensation
- Janet Sherwood (Secretary): $14,550 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Protecting and promoting the right of every child in foster care in California to safety, security and a permanent home. Teaching others how to advocate for safety, security, and permanency for children in foster care.
What it reported doing in 2025
Other program activities (continued from form 990 page 2): statewide child welfare reform------------------------------advokids' telephone helpline and legal trainings throughout the state inform ourimpact litigation, legislative proposals, and policy work. The data that we gatherand analyze from our constituents in California counties allows us to identifytrends and systemic problems at the state and local levels and propose solutions andpro-active reform on behalf of all children in foster care.appellate and amicus project----------------------------advokids' staff attorneys and pro bono attorneys provide assistance in preparingappellate briefs and amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) briefs in selected caseswhere our legal staff has identified a question of law that is critical toprotecting the health, safety or well-being of children in foster care incalifornia. Appeals and amicus briefs provide important safeguards for childrenunder the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and serve as powerful catalysts forsystemic change.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 57
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 58%; rating input score 58
- Program expense ratio: 70.1%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.8%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 58% of revenue deployed · 70.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $597K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.