Community Alliance for Special Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942536115
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4154312285
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$265,586
Expenses
$235,366
Assets
$82,355
Liabilities
$5,040

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Alida Fisher (Executive Director)
  • Anne Marie Noonan (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alida Fisher (Executive Director): $12,002 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide special education advocacy, consultation, and training to families of children with disabilities, as well as transitional age youth and young adults with disabilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.3%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 56.8%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $119.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.4%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.3% of revenue deployed · 56.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $134K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2020 to 2022
  • 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.

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is not authorized to operate as a charity in California.