Project Childsafe Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462147964
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Shelton, CT, USA
Phone
2034261320
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Safety Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$196,137
Expenses
$288,157
Assets
$302,392
Liabilities
$8,443

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH BARTOZZI (CHAIRMAN): $863,183 total reported compensation
  • LAWRENCE G KEANE (ASSISTANT SECRETARY): $746,226 total reported compensation
  • JOHN SMITH (TREASURER): $452,143 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To raise funding for the support of educating the general public about firearms and the safe and responsible use and storage of firearms. Continued on "schedule o"the organization also seeks to promote and increase awareness of proper firearm storage practices to prevent unauthorized individuals, including children and at-risk persons exhibiting symptoms of mental illness, from accessing firearms. The purpose of the organization is also to partner with firearm industry members, law enforcement, government entities, academic institutions, and other national, state, and community stakeholders in encouraging safe storage and responsible ownership and use of firearms through advocacy, research, education, and outreach programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Project childsafe, inc., is the firearm industry's safety education charity. Project childsafe, inc., supports the nationwide program developed by the national shooting sports foundation to promote responsible firearm ownership through the distribution of safety education messages and free firearm safety kits that consist of a cable-style gun-locking device and a brochure discussing safe handling and secure storage of firearms to help deter access by unauthorized individuals. The organization's focus in the most recent tax year continued to be educating the public about firearm safety and creating greater visibility of the organization and its charitable purpose.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 44% for direct work, and 56% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 31
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.9%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -46.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 100.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $268K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $863K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.