Women for Sobriety Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231972763
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Quakertown, PA, USA
Phone
2155368026
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$389,409
Expenses
$413,070
Assets
$578,495
Liabilities
$9,098

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARILYN PEARSON (PRESIDENT AN)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR MICHELLE SHAIVITZ (EXECUTIVE DI): $110,127 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through the new life program, wfs supports women seeking a sober life in recovery from problematic substance use. Women for sobriety, inc. (wfs) has been providing recovery services since 1975 for women affected by substance use disorders as well as online recovery services since 1998. These services include but are not limited to: providing new life program services, free literature, the establishment of mutual-aid groups, and assistance for treatment or recovery centers using the wfs program.

What it reported doing in 2025

Wfs administers the new life program (nlp) of recovery for women with substance use disorders. Wfs provides outreach and information via free literature, website, responding to telephone and email requests, and expanded outreach expenditure and activities in 2018-2024 to include more active outreach at recovery related events and providing free literature to educate treatment professionals about wfs services and the nlp. Wfs coordinates a network of volunteer-led, mutual-aid recovery meetings online and across the us and canada, including screening and certifying group facilitators, and reffering women to meetings in their local community, all free of charge. Wfs also administers the financial and day-to-day management of wfs online, a peer-support community of women using the nlp that is available free of charge to end users.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 66.1%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 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: -6.1%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 66.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $273K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.