CharityWatch is unable to provide a letter grade rating for Dog Is My CoPilot for its fiscal year 2024 because the organization reports that it did not have an independent audit of its finances conducted by a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for that year. In the absence of audited financial statements, CharityWatch has assigned the organization a “?” rating for 2024.

Dog Is My CoPilot reported in its 2024 IRS Form 990 that it raised just over $2.1 million in contributions during the year. For a charity of this size, particularly one soliciting donations nationally, it is unusual not to have an independent audit conducted annually.

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Why Audits Matter

An independent audit, performed in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS), involves a detailed examination of a charity’s finances by an independent Certified Public Accountant (CPA). This includes inspecting assets, reviewing accounting records, and examining source documents such as invoices, purchase orders, expense reports, credit memos, cancelled checks, journal entries, and ledgers.

Before issuing an opinion on whether a charity’s financial statements conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the CPA performs analytical procedures to flag potential issues. These may include:

• Comparing different sets of operational and financial information.
• Reviewing the consistency of historical relationships.
• Examining trends in financial ratios to identify unusual variances.

Such procedures are designed to provide donors, regulators, and stakeholders with confidence in the accuracy and completeness of a charity’s reported finances.

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State Filing Requirements

Most large charities that fundraise nationally must register annually in 41 jurisdictions (40 states plus Washington, D.C.) as a condition of being allowed to legally solicit donations within their borders. Roughly half of these jurisdictions require organizations of Dog Is My CoPilot’s size to submit audited financial statements each year.

Because federal IRS Form 990 filings do not require charities to disclose the states in which they solicit donations, CharityWatch cannot confirm whether the organization is in compliance with all applicable state fundraising regulations. Compounding this uncertainty, Dog Is My CoPilot left blank the question in its 2024 Form 990 (Part VI, Section C) asking it to list the states where it is required to file its IRS Form 990.

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2024 Spending Breakdown

In its 2024 IRS filing, Dog Is My Co-Pilot reported its top three expenses as:

1. Animal Transportation Expense – $1,170,445 (100% reported as a program expense)
2. Depreciation, depletion, and amortization – $607,103 (100% reported as a program expense)
3. Other salaries and wages – $215,750 (100% reported as a program expense)

The charity reported just $50,983 in total fundraising expenses, despite raising more than $2.1 million in contributions during the year.

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Additional Governance & Transparency Concerns

According to the organization’s 2024 IRS Form 990, Schedule O, in response to the question “Describe on Schedule O the process, if any, used by the organization to review this Form 990” (Part VI, Section B, line 11b), Dog Is My CoPilot reported:

“No review was or will be conducted.”

In response to the question “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” (Part VI, Section C, line 19), the organization reported:

“No documents available to the public.”

The organization reported having a written conflict of interest policy, yet answered “No” to the following related questions (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?”

Additionally, the organization answered “No” to the question (Part VI, Section B, lines 15a & 15b) asking whether its process for determining compensation of the CEO, Executive Director, top management official, or other officers/key employees included:

• A review and approval by independent persons.
• The use of comparability data.
• Contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision.

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Donor Takeaway

While Dog Is My CoPilot reports significant program spending to advance its mission, the absence of an independent audit for 2024, combined with its lack of documented review processes, limited public transparency, and gaps in governance practices, may raise concerns for donors. Without audited statements and strong accountability measures, it is difficult to fully assess the organization’s financial health, compliance, oversight, and program versus overhead spending.

CharityWatch advises donors to seek greater transparency and independent verification before making substantial contributions, particularly to charities operating at a national scale without annual audits or robust governance safeguards.

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