Carbon Offsets To Alleviate Poverty

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274220630
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Phone
5108463384
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Energy Resources Conservation and Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$242,161
Expenses
$197,648
Assets
$401,146
Liabilities
$352,911

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Timothy R Whitley (CEO)

People named in this filing

  • Timothy R Whitley (CEO)
  • Steve Wolf (Secretary)
  • David Minor (Director)

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

The mission of carbon offsets to alleviate poverty (cotap) is to empower individuals and organizations in developed countries to address both climate change and global poverty. Cotap counteracts your carbon emissions through certified forestry projects in least-developed regions which create transparent, accountable, and life- changing earnings for rural farming communities where income levels are less than $2 per day.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, cotap continued helping individuals and organizations to address their unavoidable carbon emissions while creating income for the poor. Individuals and organizations offset 12,382.56 tonnes, raising $167,161.45 in funding for our partner projects in uganda, india, fiji, and indonesia. No stakeholder meetings or project visits were conducted in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.4%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.03; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.88; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.4% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $167K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.