CharityWatch is unable to provide a letter grade rating for Dog Is My Co-Pilot (the Organization) for its financial year 2024 because the charity reports that it did not have an audit of its finances conducted by an independent Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for that year. For these reasons, CharityWatch has assigned the Organization a "?" rating for its fiscal year 2024.
The Organization reports in its IRS tax Form 990 that it raised just over $2.1 million in contributions in 2024. It is unusual for a charity of this size to not have an independent audit of its finances conducted each year. An audit is based on Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and includes inspecting a charity’s assets and examining its accounting records, including source documents (e.g., invoices, purchase orders, expense reports, credit memos, cancelled checks), journal entries, and ledgers (the aggregate set of records containing all of a charity’s accounts). Before expressing an opinion on a charity’s financial health and conformity (or nonconformity) with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), an independent CPA conducts analytical procedures to identify possible problems with its financial records and investigates them. Analytical procedures may include comparing different sets of operational and financial information, reviewing the consistency of historical relationships, and examining trends in financial ratios to identify any unexplained variances. Most large charities that solicit donations nationally are required to file annually in 41 jurisdictions (40 states plus Washington D.C.) as a condition of being allowed to raise funds within these states' borders. About half of those jurisdictions require charities of the Organization's size to also submit audited financial statements each year. Because charities are not required to disclose in their federal IRS tax Form 990 all the states in which they solicit donations, CharityWatch is unable to determine if the Organization is in compliance with state solicitation regulations. The Organization leaves blank and does not respond to the question in the Form 990 asking it in which states it is required to file a copy of its IRS Form 990. (IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section C) In its 2024 tax filing the Organization reports that its top three expenses consisted of "Animal Transportation Exp[ense]" of $1,170,445, all of which is reported as a program expense; "Depreciation, depletion, and amortization" of $607,103, all of which is reported as a program expense; and "Other salaries and wages" of $215,750, all of which is reported as a program expense. The charity reported only $50,983 of total fundraising expense, despite reportedly raising just over $2.1 million in contributions. |
According to the Dog is my Co-Pilot (the Organization) 2024 tax filing re: "Describe on Schedule O the process, if any, used by the organization to review this Form 990," the charity reports:
"No review was or will be conducted" (IRS Form 990, Schedule O re: Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 11b).
According to the Dog is my Co-Pilot (the Organization) 2024 tax filing re: "Describe on Schedule O whether (and if so, how) the organization made its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public during the tax year," the Organization reports:
"No documents available to the public" (IRS Form 990, Schedule O re: Form 990, Part VI, Section C, line 19).
Additionally, CharityWatch noted that the Organization reported that it had a written conflict of interest policy. However, it replied "No" to the following questions regarding its written conflict of interest policy (IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section B, lines 12b & 12c): - "Were officers, directors, or trustees, and key employees required to disclose annually interests that could give rise to conflicts?"
- "Did the organization regularly and consistently monitor and enforce compliance with the policy?..."
Lastly, CharityWatch noted that the Organization replied "No" to the question of "Did the process for determining compensation of the organization's CEO, Executive Director, or top management official and other officers or key employees of the organization include a review and approval by independent persons, comparability data, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision?" (IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section B, lines 15a & 15b) |
