Underdog Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030368814
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Island Pond, VT, USA
Phone
8027239919
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$95,753
Expenses
$86,753
Assets
$359,403
Liabilities
$295

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Berge (President/Sec)

People named in this filing

  • David Berge (President/Sec)
  • Alisa Gravitz (Chairman)
  • Drummond Pike (Director)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The Underdog Foundation ("the Foundation") works to meet community and environmental needs the cannot be met through simple investments. The interest areas of the Foundation are:- Environment and Conservation- Community Investment- Women's Entrepreneurship- International Community Investment and Community Development.The Foundation achieves its mission through grantmaking, community investments, technical assistance and strategic not-for-profit partnerships.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Underdog Foundation's program in 2024 was to provide technical assistance, grants, mentoring and community investments in order to further our charitable mission, all of which is consistent with that of our supported organization. This community development, job creation, strategic partnership and impact/community investment work was the program for 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.14; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.4% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.3% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $74K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.