Fresh Air Family Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261167804
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2055406642
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Personal Social Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$416,909
Expenses
$359,388
Assets
$84,106
Liabilities
$54,900

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VERNA GATES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CASSIE SIZEMORE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • VERNA GATES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $53,460 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule O

What it reported doing in 2024

Gross Out Camp expanded in 2024 to 68 camps in 26 locations for more than 1,200 campers. We awarded more than $62,000 in financial aid to children whose families could not afford to send them to an award-winning summer camp. 39% of our campers attended using some form of financial aid. Our camps are designed to teach children critical thinking using outdoor field biology. Screen-free these fresh air camps lead children in an exploration of their world in creeks and woods. Many of our children were in foster care living with grandparents single mothers or families with critical losses due to health fire or job loss. Our camps run from 8 am to 6 pm so struggling parents can get to work to support their children while we provide quality childcare. We provided 60,000 hours of instruction.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 73% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.8%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.65; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $288K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.