Family Violence Appellate Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454726212
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5108587358
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protection Against Abuse

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,276,197
Expenses
$2,771,693
Assets
$1,021,215
Liabilities
$224,763

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Deborah Son (CEO/EXEC DIR)
  • Nora Puckett (Vice President)
  • Scott Johnston (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Deborah Son (CEO/EXEC DIR): $224,158 total reported compensation
  • Thao D Weldy (Devlopment Dir.): $163,419 total reported compensation
  • Jennafer Wagner (Dir. Of Programs): $146,987 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our primary mission is to ensure the safety and well-being of survivors of domestic violence and their children by helping survivors of domestic violence obtain effective appellate representation.

What it reported doing in 2024

FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4D - OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES DESCRIPTION Technical Assistance Program: FVAP provided free technical assistance to domestic violence trial attorneys and advocates to help them prepare cases with a possible appeal in mind. Self-represented Litigant Program: FVAP supported self-represented litigants by accepting self-referrals for appellate representation and providing self-help information such as templates, toolkits, and other written materials to navigate appeals. Next Generation Program: FVAP worked with law students each semester and summer to cultivate the next generation of domestic violence advocates. FVAP continued, this year, to offer services in Washington state that mirror the California program in providing legal services to domestic violence survivors free of charge.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 75% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 65.9%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -21.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.6% of revenue deployed · 65.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $224K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $151K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.