Free the Need

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943127857
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155876685
Rating
93
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,905
Expenses
$38,922
Assets
$59,655
Liabilities
$10,517

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sheri Testerman (President)

People named in this filing

  • Sheri Testerman (President)
  • Yvonne Wray (Volunteer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Public benefit: provide surplus food, clothing and household goods serving families and individuals in under-served communities

What it reported doing in 2025

Conducted clothing distribution program using volunteers who gathered surplus clothing donations from retail shops, manufacturers and wholesale merchants which were distributed to needy families, service agencies. An annual Back-to-School backpack and school supply giveaway was held for school aged children and their families. In addition, donated furniture and housewares were collected and distributed to families. Distributions were done in four California counties and one Oregon county.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -86.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $37K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.