What you get
What every Second Look covers
One report, eight sections, written for the people who have to sign the return - not for accountants.
Who funds you, how concentrated that is, and what it means if the biggest source walks.
Program versus management versus fundraising, whether the split is defensible, and how it moved.
Your percentage, the trend, and how many years of runway you have before status is at risk.
Loans, transactions, and family relationships that funders and journalists look for first.
The Part VI questions where a "no" quietly costs you grants.
Officer and key employee pay in context, and whether the approval process is documented.
Months of cash, reserves, liabilities that deserve a question.
Specific, in plain language, ready for the next board meeting.
Each section follows the IRS instructions for the form and its schedules, and the public support test is worked the way Schedule A works it. See the documents every report is read against.
An excerpt, so you know what arrives
Every report reads all schedules, compares against the prior year where the filing allows, and ends with three questions specific to that return. Any report with a red flag is read by a licensed CPA before it reaches you.
Get a second look from $79Summary
$10.4M in revenue against $9.9M in expenses, so the year ended about $566,000 ahead. Spending was 86.8% program, 10.4% management, 2.7% fundraising. The pressure is not on the spending side: it is that half the money came from one funder and the public support percentage dropped 14 points in a single year.
Findings
Needs attention: Public support fell from 49.9% to 35.4% in one year, about two points above the one-third floor a public charity has to hold.
Watch: One foundation gave about $5.2M, roughly half of all revenue for the year. Cash on hand covers about 3.5 months.
In good shape: Program spending was 86.8% of expenses, and the return reports an independent board with conflict of interest, whistleblower and compensation review policies in place.
Questions for the board
- What is the plan to widen the donor base before public support drops below the one-third floor?
- Does our largest funder have a multi-year commitment, and what happens to the budget if that grant shrinks?
- How much of our restricted cash is expected to be released for general operations in the next twelve months?