First Graduate
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943381171
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4155613450
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Child Matching Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,285,941
- Expenses
- $2,087,056
- Assets
- $2,103,774
- Liabilities
- $304,804
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- TERRI FORMAN (SECRETARY AND CEO)
- GOPA DASARI (PRESIDENT)
- RYAN BAUM (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- TERRI FORMAN (SECRETARY AND CEO): $164,700 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
First graduate's mission is to help students become the first in their families to graduate from college ready to pursue a career that is meaningful to them. We are a 12-year+ free program-recruiting students in 6th grade. Offerings include homework and study support, test prep, school evaluation, field trips and school/university visits, scholarship and internship access, community building, career presentations from industry professionals, and more.
What it reported doing in 2024
High school - we continue helping first generation students become competitive college candidates with tutoring, social and emotional support, career exposure, networking, summer internships, applying to high school, sat and act test preparation, college visits, college applications, scholarship application, parent support during the process, financial aid applications, filing fafsa, selecting college, etc.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 67.5%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.7%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62% of revenue deployed · 67.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 15 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.