Home › About

About SeniorOrgCheck

SeniorOrgCheck is a free financial transparency tool for senior service nonprofits in the United States. We help families, donors, and researchers understand where nonprofit money comes from — and where it goes.

Our mission

When a family is looking for Meals on Wheels, an adult day care program, or senior home care in their area, they deserve to know whether the organization they’re trusting is financially healthy and transparent. We make that information free and easy to access.

Every senior service nonprofit with over $50,000 in annual revenue is required to file an IRS Form 990 annually. These documents are public record — but they’re dense, technical, and hard to read. We parse them and present the key facts clearly.

Data sources

📄 IRS Form 990 via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
Our primary data source. ProPublica aggregates IRS 990 filings for over 1.8 million tax-exempt organizations. We use their public API to pull revenue, expenses, officer compensation, assets, and filing history. All data is public record under federal law.
🏠 US Census Bureau American Community Survey
We enrich organization pages with demographic data about the ZIP codes they serve — including the senior population (65+), median income, and poverty rates. This adds context about community need.
🏢 IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File
The official IRS registry of all active tax-exempt organizations. We use this to verify 501(c)(3) status, tax-deductibility, and organization classification codes (NTEE).

How the Efficiency Score works

Our 0–100 Efficiency Score compares each organization to similar senior service nonprofits in the same state. It is calculated from four components:

ComponentWeightWhat it measures
Overhead ratio40%Percentage of expenses going to admin and fundraising vs programs. Lower is better. Under 15% = excellent.
Revenue growth30%Compound annual growth rate over 3–5 years. Consistent growth signals organizational health.
Transparency20%Has a website, multiple years of 990 filings, and tax-deductible status.
Size & stability10%Annual revenue as a proxy for organizational scale and impact.

Score labels:

85–100 Excellent  70–84 Very Good  55–69 Good  40–54 Fair  0–39 Poor

What we don’t do

We do not contact, audit, or independently verify organizations. We do not accept payment or advertising from any nonprofit we cover. Our scores are based solely on public IRS data and should be used as one input among many — not as a definitive endorsement or condemnation.

A low score may reflect a small organization with limited reporting history, not necessarily poor performance. Always visit the organization directly and speak with staff before making major care decisions.

How often is data updated?

We update our database monthly as new IRS 990 filings become available through ProPublica. Most organizations file 990s 3–9 months after their fiscal year ends, so data is typically 6–18 months behind the current date.

Contact

SeniorOrgCheck is an independent data project. For questions, corrections, or feedback, please use the information on our Privacy page.