Operation Freedom Paws

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452566382
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Gilroy, CA, USA
Phone
4086839010
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Military, Veterans' Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,771,193
Expenses
$1,742,430
Assets
$1,335,767
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mary Cortani (President & ED)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Cortani (President & ED): $99,344 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Operation Freedom Paws empowers veterans and individuals with disabilities to restore their freedom to live life.

What it reported doing in 2025

Kennel program - operation freedom paws (ofp) operates a 24/7 kennel. Our dogs come from shelters and rescues that meet the criteria for the ofp service dog program, houses them at the kennel and funds all their medical care until matched and sent home with the client. Trainers and kennel staff work on basic training, then clients take over for begining, intermediate, and advanced training followed by service dog training. In addition to dogs in training, ofp offers daycare and boarding at a no cost or reduced cost to first responders, law enforcement k9s and ofp clients who need medical services where it is unsafe to take the dogs with them. Ofp also offers daycare and boarding services to the public. The kennel facility is also used for training and a safe place for clients to come when in crisis. It also operates as a 24-hour hotline for all ofp clients and their families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% 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.
  • 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 93.5%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $37.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 93.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.