Be Finally Free

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272564485
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Bakersfield, CA, USA
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$908,716
Expenses
$587,089
Assets
$400,805
Liabilities
$106,846

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

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Debbie Ormonde (President Founder)

People named in this filing

  • Debbie Ormonde (President Founder)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Be Finally Frees mission is to restore and equip individuals and families impacted by addiction crime incarceration and poverty by providing education instilling life skills and giving hope to overcome their circumstances. We accomplish this with significant programs including Enhanced Care Management ECM anger-management classes parenting classes unshackled success program and faith-based personal-growth workshops that promote emotional wellness recovery and self-sufficiency.

What it reported doing in 2024

Unshackled Success: Breaking the Chains of Poverty Program Unshackled Success is a dynamic and transformative program developed to empower individuals facing the systemic and personal challenges of poverty. Rooted in education skill-building and mindset development this comprehensive course equips participants with the tools needed to achieve financial independence and long-term stability. Throughout this structured program participants gain essential skills in financial literacy budgeting and credit management while also being introduced to entrepreneurial thinking workforce readiness and global economic awareness. With an emphasis on breaking generational cycles the course fosters personal responsibility confidence and a vision for a more purposeful future. By addressing both the practical and psychological barriers to success Unshackled Success creates a pathway for participants to move beyond survival and into a life of prosperity contribution and lasting change. This program directly supports our nonprofits mission to restore hope and self-sufficiency in underserved communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 22
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16.7%; rating input score 17
  • Program expense ratio: 25.9%; rating input score 26
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.4%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 27.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 41.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16.7% of revenue deployed · 25.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $152K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 17/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.