Canines for Service Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
562118747
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, NC, USA
Phone
9103628181
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Blind/Visually Impaired Centers

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,419,491
Expenses
$1,167,039
Assets
$1,631,086
Liabilities
$409,318

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Bethany Leighton (Executive Dir.): $101,527 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CFS seeks to inspire veterans through life-changing canine partnerships.

What it reported doing in 2024

Canines for Service is the longest running, internationally accredited, service dog provider in North Carolina. Civilian and veteran clients have included those with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, stroke, severe heart conditions, arthritis, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Recognizing a significant need within the Veteran community, CFS shifted its focus to solely serving Veterans in 2018. CFS continues to provide service dogs at no cost or fundraising requirement to Veterans from all conflicts with service-connect PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, mobility challenges, and/or military sexual trauma. To date, CFS has provided over 100 service dogs across the United States, with more than half placed exclusively with Veterans.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • 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 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.4% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $995K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.