Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 1997.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
13 people listed on the 990; $413K paid to officers and key staff.
David Channer’s $197K as President/CEO is at the 43rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 3122 $10–100M human services 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Channer | $197,056 | $180,000 | $178,361 | $180,000 | $172,504 | $117,511 |
| Shahnaz Mazandarani | — | — | — | — | — | $176,177 |
| Anne Grascoeur | $159,530 | $151,382 | $139,226 | $123,899 | $123,899 | — |
| Sharon Brown | $159,430 | $151,065 | $115,831 | — | — | — |
| Warner Graham | $154,786 | $147,775 | $140,476 | $118,104 | $124,146 | — |
| Jeanie Lynch | $142,691 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kimberly Murphy | $134,859 | $124,596 | $109,343 | $100,617 | — | — |
| Monica Dirr | $125,102 | — | — | — | — | — |
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.
See A Better Way INC executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Empowers children and families with skills and relationships for well-being.
Questions for A Better Way INC
Your first name shows with your question. A Better Way INC answers here, for everyone.
Mental Health Services
We provide mental health services that are strength-based, family-driven, collaborative, comprehensive, and evidence BASED/EVIDENCE informed. Our treatment focus on behavioral & emotional issues and placement stabilization.
Social Services
During 2019-2020 our social services programs consisted of 6 different programs, the largest of which were the alameda county parent engagement program (pep), the san francisco county peer parent program (PPP) and the alameda county another road to safety (ars) program.
Permanency
We provide traditional foster care, adoptions, intensive treatment foster care (isfc), and transitional housing for transiitional aged foster youth (THP+FC). In fiscal year 2019-20, we had 28 approved resource families for our foster care, foster to adopt, and intensive services foster care programs and 25 placed children.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
The auditor reported no findings.
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $313K | $2.7M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $771K | $766K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $3.8M | $6.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $2.9M | $4.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $996K | $1.3M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $192K | $192K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $7.3M | $6.7M | $630K | $220 |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $19K | $19K | ||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1.1M | $952K | $110K | $29 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $597K | $532K | $65K | $17 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $544K | $544K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $801K | $507K | $295K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $630K | $434K | $191K | $4K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $644K | $639K | $5K | $214 |
| TravelLn 17 | $175K | $170K | $5K | $15 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $49K | $40K | $9K | $1 |
| InterestLn 20 | $50K | $25K | $23K | $2K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $45K | $32K | $12K | $983 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $66K | $13K | $52K | $38 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $518K | $1.2M | −$648K | $21 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $146K | $140K | $6K | $202 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $12.9M | $11.4M | $1.5M | $8K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS May 11, 2026 | $14.9M | $14.8M | $148K | $2.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Apr 22, 2025 | $15.2M | $14.7M | $429K | $2.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Apr 24, 2024 | $11.9M | $12.3M | −$431K | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS May 9, 2023 | $12.5M | $12.5M | −$17K | $2.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS May 4, 2022 | $13.3M | $12.5M | $756K | $2.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Apr 28, 2021 | $13.2M | $12.9M | $332K | $1.3M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $13,216,817 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 10 of 11 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $13,216,817 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $12,884,943 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $6,062,519 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,328,121 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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