Focusing Philanthropy

Legal name: Focusing Philanthropy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452405071
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
310-399-3300
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$45,824,512
Expenses
$37,115,443
Assets
$14,484,769
Liabilities
$28,909

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANCIS BEADLE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • WHITNEY SCHAEFER (COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER): $172,500 total reported compensation
  • JASON WINDEBANK (TREASURER): $106,477 total reported compensation
  • FRANCIS BEADLE (CEO): $43,750 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Focusing Philanthropy applies an investment model to the nonprofit world to find and fund high-impact, scalable programs in the United States and around the world.

What it reported doing in 2025

See schedule o

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 98% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 98%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $223.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 8 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.8% of revenue deployed · 98% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $36.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 26 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 20 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.