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Financial Accountability & Transparency

San Francisco Adult & Teen Challenge is funded almost entirely by people who choose to give. We think those people are entitled to see exactly what we are, what we receive, and where it goes — so this page puts our legal status, our financial history, and our federal tax filings in one place.

Every dollar given to us stays here. Each Adult & Teen Challenge center is independently operated. Your gift to San Francisco Adult & Teen Challenge funds this center and the men in this program — it is not pooled into a national organization. Our 2024 Form 990 reports $0 in grants or assistance paid to other organizations, so you don’t have to take our word for it.

Who we are, legally

  • Legal nameGreater San Francisco Teen Challenge Inc.
  • Operating nameSan Francisco Adult & Teen Challenge (SFATC)
  • Federal Tax ID (EIN)77-0119359
  • Tax status501(c)(3) public charity
  • Recognized tax-exempt sinceNovember 1986
  • Serving the Bay Area since1964
  • LocationSan Francisco, California
  • Fiscal year endsDecember 31
  • People employed (2024)21
  • Gifts tax-deductibleYes — IRS Publication 78, code PC

You can confirm every line above yourself, independently of us, using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search linked below.

Where the money goes

89.2% of what we spent in 2024 went straight to the program

Functional expenses, fiscal year 2024 — $1,167,712 total, as reported on Form 990, Part IX.

  • Program services $1,041,893
  • Management & general $97,391
  • Fundraising $28,428

For context: the Better Business Bureau’s charity standards ask that a charity spend at least 65 cents of every dollar on program work. In fiscal year 2024 we spent just under 90 cents — and it cost us 2.4 cents to raise each dollar we received.

Fiscal year 2024 functional expenses, as filed (Form 990, Part IX). The same figures as the chart above, in full.
Expense category Total Program Mgmt & general Fundraising
Salaries and wages $391,064 $391,064
Officer, director & key employee compensation $137,339 $61,803 $61,802 $13,734
Payroll taxes $45,306 $32,416 $10,126 $2,764
Work crews filed as “work calls” $116,162 $116,162
Occupancy $106,313 $90,366 $15,947
Vehicle expenses $83,736 $83,736
Food $80,301 $80,301
Other program expenses $59,755 $59,755
Depreciation $22,677 $22,677
Information technology $2,958 $2,514 $444
Office expenses $2,070 $1,759 $311
Professional fees (non-employee) $4,582 $3,666 $916
Advertising and promotion $26 $26
All other expenses $115,423 $95,674 $7,845 $11,904
Professional fundraising fees $0 $0
Total functional expenses $1,167,712 $1,041,893 $97,391 $28,428

The largest cost of a residential recovery program is the people who run it — staff who live and work alongside the men in our care. Personnel costs (salaries, officer compensation, and payroll taxes) came to $573,709 of $1,167,712 in total expenses. The next largest lines are the ones you would expect from a residential program: housing the men, feeding them, moving them to work sites, and running the work crews.

We pay nothing to professional fundraisers. No commissioned solicitors, no outside firms taking a percentage of your gift.

Where the money comes from

Effectively all of it comes from donations. In fiscal year 2024, $1,209,877 of $1,209,936 in total revenue — more than 99.9% — came from contributions and gifts. We charge nothing for program services, so program service revenue is $0.

Fiscal year 2024 revenue, as filed (Form 990, Part VIII).
Source Amount
Contributions, gifts and grants $1,209,877
Program service revenue $0
Investment income $59
Total revenue $1,209,936

Government grants accounted for $32,298 of that total; the remaining $1,177,579 was private giving.

Financial history

Figures as reported to the IRS on Form 990. Fiscal years ending December 31.
Fiscal year Total revenue Total expenses Net assets
2024 $1,209,936 $1,167,712 $474,017
2023 $875,805 $925,425 $431,793
2022 $799,384 $733,847 $449,789
2021 $585,835 $505,834 $384,252
2020 $354,016 $334,510 $298,779

Giving to this center has grown substantially — from $354,016 in 2020 to $1,209,936 in 2024. Fiscal year 2024 closed with a small surplus of $42,224 after a deficit year in 2023.

2024 was also the year we opened our vocational and transitional housing project in the Bayview, giving graduates a place to keep building practical skills and prepare for independent living. A larger year of giving paid for a larger year of work.

What we hold, and what we owe

  • Cash on hand (Dec 31, 2024)$218,993
  • Land, buildings and equipment (net)$253,727
  • Other assets$1,297
  • Total assets$474,017
  • Total liabilities$0
  • Net assets$474,017

We carry no debt. Total liabilities at the close of fiscal year 2024 were $0 — no mortgages, no notes payable, no outstanding loans. Of our $474,017 in net assets, $253,727 is the property and equipment the program actually runs on, and $218,993 was cash — a little over two months of operating expenses, held so the program does not stop when giving dips.

Governance and accountability

  • We file a full Form 990 every year — the complete public return, not the short form — and every one is linked below. Our 2024 return was prepared by an independent CPA firm and filed in November 2025.
  • Leadership compensation is disclosed. Officer and key-employee compensation is reported by name and amount in our Form 990, as federal law requires of public charities. You do not have to ask us for it.
  • We are governed by a board of directors and operate as an independent 501(c)(3) corporation.
  • We are an independently operated Adult & Teen Challenge center. Gifts to us fund this center.
  • Every gift is receipted. All donations are tax-deductible, and we send charitable donation receipts to our donors.
  • Donor information is never sold, rented, or leased, and the identity of all our donors is kept confidential. See our donor privacy policy.

Our documents

Questions about our finances

If something here is unclear, or you want detail this page doesn’t cover, please ask. We would rather answer a hard question than lose your trust. Email hello@sfatc.org.

Questions about the program itself — who it’s for, what a year here looks like, what it costs a man to come — are answered on our frequently asked questions page.

Last updated August 2026. Fiscal-year-2024 figures are taken from our Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, as filed with the Internal Revenue Service on November 17, 2025. Prior-year figures reflect Form 990 returns for fiscal years 2020–2023 as filed.