Comedy Gives Back

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841886550
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Venice, CA, USA
Phone
3107757040
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$617,754
Expenses
$500,037
Assets
$505,744
Liabilities
$28,115

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ZOE FRIEDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ZOE FRIEDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $60,000 total reported compensation
  • JODI LIEBERMAN (TREASURER): $55,000 total reported compensation
  • AMBER LAWSON (SECRETARY): $55,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Comedy gives back is an organization that is dedicted to creating a safety net for stand-up comedians in need. (see schedule o for continuation)

What it reported doing in 2024

During the fiscal year 2024-2025, the Organization conducted the following activities and other notable achievements reflected below: - On August 18th conducted the 818 Brody Festival of Friendship - On November 14th conducted the New York Comedy Festival Show at Gotham - During January 2025 the Organization created a fire fund to help comedian who suffered from the LA fires and gave out 9 grants - On January 31, 2025 conducted the Atl Comedy All Stars - The Organization was the recipient of Bert Kreischers Fully Loaded Tour - The Organization provided 94 grants during the fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 52% for direct work, and 48% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.2%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th 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: 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: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 21st 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: 19.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 47.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.2% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $415K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 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
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.