First Help EIN 82-1711537

First Help FY2023 filing

EIN  82-1711537 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Worcester, MA
Form 990 (PDF)
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Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Educates and supports first responders and their families facing mental health challenges.
Leadership
Karen Solomon · President, Treasurer,clerk · $5K
Money in and out
$608K revenue, $669K expenses
Bottom line
78% program efficiency

Educates and supports first responders and their families facing mental health challenges. For fiscal year 2023 it reported $608K in revenue, $669K in expenses, and $-13K in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2023
Total revenue
$608K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$669K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$-13K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): −$61K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.78 Management & general $0.17 Fundraising $0.05
Program efficiency
78%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
0.2mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
-10%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Revenue
$608K
FY2023▼ -23%
Expenses
$669K
FY2023▼ -28%
Total assets
$46K
FY2023▼ -78%
Total liabilities
$59K
FY2023▼ -62%
Total revenue
$608K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$669K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$-13K
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19−$61K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$46K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B78%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 34
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 44
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $450K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2023.
01

Family Weekend

An annual retreat is sponsored for first responders and their families to meet and attend a dinner and various events moderated by trained professionals to teach coping skills.

$271Kprogram expense
02

Training

Workshops and peer-to-peer mentoring sessions are designed to inform first responders on the physical and psychological effects of job-related stress and to reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress.

$138Kprogram expense
03

Scholarships

College scholarships are provided to children affected by first responder suicide.

$41Kprogram expense

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Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CFirst Help
EINHdr · item D82-1711537
Principal addressHdr · item CWorcester, MA
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.1sthelp.org
Year of formationHdr · item Lpending
State of legal domicileHdr · item MMA
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFCrime & Legal (I60)
Ruling yearIRS BMFOct 2017

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a4
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b4
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14No
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
President, Treasurer,clerk
$4,800Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Karen Solomon’s $4K as President is at the 1st percentile of top reported officer pay among 1398 $100K–1M crime & legal nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 7 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Steven Hough$29,458
Joe Willis$19,840$7,502
Karen Solomon$3,500$4,800$10,734$12,724
Robyn Mikel$7,686
Rob Winner$5,790
Sharonda Calderon$2,047$1,250
Rod Rifredi$1,800

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants100%$607K
Investment income$2K
Total revenueLn 12$608K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.78 Management & general $0.17 Fundraising $0.05
Program services78%$520K
Management & general17%$116K
Fundraising5%$34K
Total functional expensesLn 25$669K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$13K
Total assetsLn 16$46K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$59K
Total net assetsLn 32$-13K
Months of cash on handcomputed0.2

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $13K · Operating expenses/yr $669K
0.2 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $520K · Total expenses $669K
78%
Management & General
Management & general $116K · Total expenses $669K
17%
Fundraising
Fundraising $34K · Total expenses $669K
5%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $22K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $667K
$0.03 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $607K · Total revenue $608K
100%
Government reliance
Government grants — · Total revenue $608K
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $0 · Total revenue $608K
0%
Investment reliance
Investment income $2K · Total revenue $608K
0%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $0 · Total expenses $669K
0%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $608K · Prior year $785K
-23%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $-13K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $608K · Expenses $669K
-10%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $46K
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $-13K · Total assets $46K
-29%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $46K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Karen Solomon · Reported title PRESIDENT, TREASURER,CLERK · Highest reported compensation $5K · Total expenses $669K
1%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $91K · Total expenses $669K
14%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 78%
Overhead ratio 17%
Fundraising cost ratio 6%
Revenue growth -23%
Legal fee ratio 2%
Accounting fee ratio 4%
Fundraising fee ratio 1%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$29K
Grants paid · 5 grants · $107K · 2021–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$11,414
Unitemized GrantFY2023$37,048
Unitemized GrantFY2023$20,866
Unitemized GrantFY2022$29,293
Unitemized GrantFY2021$8,500

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Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2024 (Latest)$604K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$608K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$785K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$613K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$345K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
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