Common Cause Education Fund

CharityWatch's rating of Common Cause Education Fund is for the 501(c)(3) public charity (tax ID #31-1705370). The rating does not include the financial activities of the related 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare entity, Common Cause (tax ID #52-6078441), for which CharityWatch issues a separate rating.

CharityWatch issues separate ratings for 501(c)(3) & 501(c)(4) organizations, even if their financial activities are included together in a consolidated audit, due to their differing treatments under the IRS tax code. For more information on this topic, please see our sections on Types of Non-Profits, Tax Status, and Treatment of Related Organizations, which can be found on the Our Process page. For more information about things to consider when donating to organizations that have related public charity and social welfare entities, read "Sorting Out Nonprofit Pairs."

According to the Common Cause & Affiliate consolidated audit of June 30, 2021 (Note 6, Note Payable):

"In May 2020, the Organization [Common Cause Education Fund] obtained a loan totaling $1,129,700 pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under...the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) of March 27, 2020. Proceeds from the loan may only be used for payroll costs, costs used to continue group healthcare benefits, mortgage payments, rent, utilities and interest on other debt obligations incurred after February 15, 2020. The Organization expected to use the entire proceeds of the loan for qualifying expenses as described in the CARES Act. The Organization elected to record the note payable related to the PPP loan in accordance with ASC [Accounting Standards Codification] Topic 470: Debt. The Organization received official notification of forgiveness from the Small Business Administration (SBA) on September 1, 2021. Therefore, the Organization wrote off the entire balance as a gain on forgiveness of note payable in September 2021, which will be reported in the [audited] consolidated financial statements during the year ended June 30, 2022."

According to the Common Cause & Affiliate consolidated audit of June 30, 2021 (Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies, Employment agreement):

"The Organization has an employment agreement with its President and Chief Executive Officer. Under the terms of the agreement, should the Organization terminate her employment without cause, the Organization would be obligated to pay severance."

According to the Common Cause & Affiliate consolidated audit of June 30, 2021 (Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies, COVID-19 Pandemic):

"On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' and, on March 11, 2020, declared it to be a pandemic. Actions taken around the world to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus include restrictions on travel, quarantines in certain areas and forced closures for certain types of public places and businesses. The coronavirus and actions taken to mitigate it have had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the geographical area in which the Organization operates. It is unknown how long these conditions will last and what the complete financial affect will be to the Organization, to date [November 8, 2021], and it is reasonably possible that the Organization is vulnerable to the risk of a near-term impact."