Transparency
Transparency and Organizational Information
Clear public information about the Foundation’s status, leadership, programs, funding practices, records, and accountability.
Organization summary
Core public information
| Legal name | Red Tape Foundation |
|---|---|
| Federal EIN | 93-2249560 |
| Federal tax status | Tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) |
| Public charity classification | Public charity under Internal Revenue Code Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) |
| Effective exemption date | July 6, 2023 |
| Principal officer | Steven Funkhouser, Founder and President |
| Primary service focus | California, with emphasis on the Central Coast and public online educational access |
| Current public filing described on this page | IRS Form 990-N e-Postcard for the tax year ending December 31, 2025 |
| Page last substantively reviewed | July 22, 2026 |
Organizational information can change. A later filing, leadership action, government record, policy, or public update may supersede a statement on this page. Questions about a specific record should identify the document, year, or statement involved.
Federal tax status
Red Tape Foundation is recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity.
The Internal Revenue Service recognized Red Tape Foundation as an organization exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), with an effective exemption date of July 6, 2023.
The Foundation’s public charity classification is described as Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi). Public charity status generally reflects an organization intended to receive broad public support rather than operate as a private foundation. The Foundation remains responsible for complying with the filing, operational, recordkeeping, charitable-purpose, and private-benefit limitations applicable to its circumstances.
Tax-exempt status does not mean that every payment to the Foundation is automatically a charitable contribution. A payment made in exchange for a product, service, course, registration, or other benefit may be treated differently from a donation. Transaction descriptions and acknowledgments should accurately identify whether goods or services were provided.
Donors should retain their receipts and consult their own qualified tax advisers about deductibility. The Foundation does not provide individualized tax advice and does not determine how a donor must report a transaction.
Public filing information
Current filing identified by the Foundation
Red Tape Foundation filed an IRS Form 990-N e-Postcard for the tax year ending December 31, 2025. The filing identifies Red Tape Foundation, EIN 93-2249560, and Steven Funkhouser as principal officer.
Form 990-N is an electronic notice used by eligible small tax-exempt organizations. It is not the same as a full Form 990 financial return and does not contain the same schedules, revenue detail, expense detail, compensation information, or program-service reporting that may appear in a longer filing.
The filing method used for a particular year depends on the organization’s applicable filing requirements and circumstances. A future filing may use a different form if required. The Foundation should not describe the 990-N as an audited financial statement or as proof that every transaction, program statement, or operational practice has been independently reviewed.
Questions about an identified filing may be submitted through the Contact page. Include the tax year and the specific information being requested.
Leadership and oversight
Current public leadership information
Steven Funkhouser, Founder and President
Steven provides organizational leadership and program direction. His professional background includes human resources, labor compliance, prevailing-wage and certified-payroll administration, business operations, notary services, workforce education, safety training, and helping people and organizations understand practical requirements.
Current leadership responsibilities include mission and program planning, partnerships, fundraising, financial oversight, public communications, educational-resource development, grant activity, technology, operational compliance, and administration of the Foundation’s developing charitable programs.
This public summary does not attempt to reproduce every authority, restriction, delegation, or governance action contained in organizational records. Formal authority is determined by applicable law and the Foundation’s governing documents and properly approved actions.
Leadership biographies should not be interpreted as a guarantee that the Foundation can provide every service connected to a person’s professional background. Foundation activities are limited by charitable purpose, qualifications, funding, organizational capacity, program scope, and the boundaries stated on each program page.
Governance responsibilities
Organizational decisions should remain connected to the charitable mission.
Nonprofit governance requires more than maintaining tax-exempt status. Decisions should consider charitable purpose, legal compliance, financial stewardship, conflicts of interest, accurate records, participant welfare, donor restrictions, privacy, public communication, and the organization’s ability to fulfill a commitment responsibly.
Mission alignment
Programs, partnerships, grants, fees, contracts, and expenditures should support the Foundation’s charitable and educational purposes rather than an unrelated private interest.
Financial oversight
Income and expenses should be recorded, reconciled, supported by appropriate documentation, and reviewed according to the responsibility involved.
Conflicts of interest
Potential personal, family, business, or financial interests should be identified and handled so organizational decisions remain fair and properly authorized.
Accurate public statements
The Foundation should distinguish plans, goals, inquiries, and proposed programs from completed work, confirmed partnerships, awards, and measured results.
Participant protection
Youth activities, scholarships, volunteering, photography, records, transportation, facilities, and public stories should be managed with appropriate safety and privacy considerations.
Documented decisions
Material organizational actions should be supported by records appropriate to the decision, such as approved terms, invoices, receipts, agreements, meeting records, or written authorization.
This section describes governance subjects rather than claiming that every possible policy has been adopted in a particular format. Questions about a specific policy should identify the policy and the reason it is being requested.
Current charitable and educational work
Programs focus on practical education, safety, access, and community capacity.
Youth Babysitting and Safety Training
Developing educational pathways for youth ages 11–16 covering caregiving awareness, communication, responsibility, leadership, household safety, emergency contacts, and recognition of personal limits.
CPR, First Aid, and AED Access
Providing course-selection information and developing partnerships, sponsored access, scholarships, and community opportunities connected to appropriate safety education.
Training Scholarships
Building a responsible process for connecting available charitable support with eligible training costs and suitable participants when funding and appropriate opportunities align.
Community Education and Resources
Publishing plain-language safety, preparedness, caregiver, records, notice, and organizational-readiness information that helps people prepare responsible next steps.
Community Partnerships
Developing relationships with schools, nonprofits, employers, instructors, facilities, funders, volunteers, and community groups able to contribute to defined charitable activities.
Volunteer Capacity
Developing structured volunteer opportunities for outreach, logistics, educational review, technology, communications, administration, fundraising research, and qualified instruction.
Program availability depends on confirmed funding, qualified instructors, facilities, eligibility, safety requirements, partners, participant demand, scheduling, and organizational capacity. Publishing a program description does not mean registration, scholarships, volunteer assignments, or direct assistance are continuously available.
Funding sources
The Foundation may receive support from several lawful sources.
Red Tape Foundation may receive charitable contributions, grants, sponsorships, employer-giving payments, matching gifts, in-kind contributions, program-related payments, and other lawful support connected to its mission.
General donations
Unrestricted charitable support may be used where the Foundation determines it can best advance approved mission, program, scholarship, outreach, technology, administrative, or operating needs.
Restricted contributions
A donor may propose support for a defined charitable purpose. The Foundation must accept the restriction before it becomes binding and must retain appropriate control over administration and participant decisions.
Grants
Grant funds may be subject to an approved proposal, budget, reporting period, eligible expenses, performance requirements, acknowledgment terms, and other conditions established by the funder and accepted by the Foundation.
Sponsorships
A sponsor may help support a class, scholarship category, materials, outreach, facility, or another defined activity. Recognition should be accurate and should not imply an endorsement or control that does not exist.
In-kind support
Accepted goods, facilities, equipment, printing, technology, professional work, or other noncash resources may support the mission when they meet a confirmed need and do not create unreasonable burdens.
Program-related revenue
The Foundation may charge reasonable fees for an approved educational activity or related transaction when consistent with its mission and operational responsibilities.
Use of organizational funds
Resources may support direct programs and the infrastructure required to deliver them.
Unless a contribution is accepted for a specifically restricted purpose, Red Tape Foundation may use organizational funds where they are most useful in advancing its charitable and educational mission.
- Training scholarships and sponsored participant access.
- Educational materials, workbooks, printing, supplies, and equipment.
- Qualified instructors and approved program-delivery expenses.
- Facilities, participant communication, registration, and program logistics.
- Community resources, outreach, translation, accessibility, and distribution.
- Volunteer coordination, screening, supervision, and project support.
- Technology, website services, communications, software, and data security.
- Insurance, accounting, banking, legal, filing, and nonprofit compliance costs.
- Fundraising, grant development, donor records, receipts, and reporting.
- Reasonable administrative and operating expenses required to sustain the organization.
An expense does not become charitable merely because it is paid by a nonprofit. It should have an appropriate organizational purpose, be supported by reasonable documentation, and be authorized according to the responsibility involved.
Direct program expenses and administrative expenses both may be necessary. A class cannot operate responsibly without communication, insurance, records, payment processing, technology, facilities, qualified people, and other supporting systems. The Foundation should avoid implying that ordinary administrative costs have no connection to mission delivery.
Mission-related earned revenue
Reasonable fees may support approved educational activities and nonprofit operations.
Some Foundation activities may charge a reasonable fee to cover instruction, materials, technology, facilities, administration, payment processing, staffing, compliance, or other costs associated with the activity.
A fee-based activity should remain consistent with the Foundation’s charitable mission and should not be described as a donation when the payer is purchasing a defined product, course, registration, or service. Receipts, checkout descriptions, and acknowledgments should reflect the nature of the transaction.
Fee revenue may support the activity that generated it, other charitable programs, scholarships, educational resources, technology, or general nonprofit operations, subject to applicable restrictions and organizational decisions.
The Foundation may consider scholarships, sponsored access, reduced costs, or other assistance when funding and program design allow. The existence of a fee or scholarship description does not guarantee that every participant will qualify, receive assistance, or find a particular activity available.
Donor stewardship
Accepted charitable contributions remain under appropriate Foundation control.
A donor may express a preference or propose a restricted purpose, but a contribution does not independently authorize the donor to select scholarship recipients, control instructors, direct volunteers, approve vendors, determine eligibility, require favorable public statements, or operate the program.
Restricted gifts should be discussed before payment. A checkout note, email request, or donor preference does not automatically create a restriction unless the Foundation accepts it. A restriction may be declined when it is inconsistent with the mission, impractical, too narrow, unsafe, administratively unreasonable, or dependent on an unconfirmed activity.
No goods or services will be provided in exchange for a charitable contribution unless expressly identified in the applicable transaction or acknowledgment. Donors should retain receipts and seek their own qualified tax advice.
Scholarship stewardship
Training assistance requires funding, eligibility, and an appropriate opportunity.
A scholarship inquiry is not an award. The Foundation may need to review the proposed course, provider, cost, participant need, charitable purpose, timing, documentation, available funds, and restrictions connected to the funding source.
Assistance may be provided through a sponsored seat, direct provider payment, approved reimbursement, materials, or another documented arrangement. The Foundation does not promise reimbursement for costs incurred before approval.
Scholarship information should be handled with appropriate privacy. Public impact reporting may describe totals, categories, or de-identified service areas without publishing unnecessary financial hardship, medical, employment, student, or family information.
Impact reporting
Plans, activities, outputs, and outcomes are reported differently.
A planned class is not a completed class. An inquiry is not a participant served. A scholarship framework is not a scholarship awarded. A partnership conversation is not a confirmed partnership. A volunteer inquiry is not a completed service hour.
The Foundation’s Impact page explains how organizational milestones, activities, direct outputs, and longer-term outcomes are distinguished. Verified totals will be added as activities become operational and reliable records are available.
Public reporting should identify the relevant period and unit being measured. Registrations, attendance, unique participants, sessions, scholarship dollars, organizations, volunteer hours, and resources are different measures and should not be combined without explanation.
The Foundation may correct a result or description when records or context show that a prior statement was incomplete. A smaller verified result is more useful than a larger unsupported claim.
Public records and information requests
Requests should identify the specific public information being sought.
Questions about nonprofit status, leadership, public filings, program descriptions, charitable contributions, funding practices, earned revenue, or organizational information may be directed to Red Tape Foundation.
A useful request includes:
- The requester’s name and contact information.
- The specific document, filing year, page, statement, or organizational topic involved.
- The preferred format when relevant.
- The reason clarification is needed when that context will help identify the record.
- A reasonable date by which the information is requested.
The Foundation may ask for clarification when a request is overly broad, unclear, duplicative, or appears to seek records that do not exist in the form described.
This page does not promise that every requested record is public or that every request will be fulfilled in the precise format requested. Availability may depend on applicable law, confidentiality, privacy, privilege, security, ownership, retention, and whether the Foundation possesses the record.
Information that may remain confidential
Transparency must be balanced with privacy, safety, and legal responsibilities.
The Foundation generally will not publish or release confidential information merely because someone labels a request as a transparency inquiry.
- Participant, student, youth, family, scholarship, or applicant information that is not appropriate for public release.
- Detailed medical, financial-hardship, employment, identity, background-check, or educational records.
- Private donor contact, payment, or giving information unless disclosure is authorized or legally required.
- Personnel, volunteer, applicant, reference, screening, disciplinary, or performance records.
- Passwords, access credentials, security procedures, vulnerability information, and protected technology details.
- Attorney-client communications, legal work product, confidential professional advice, and privileged material.
- Unapproved drafts, internal deliberations, negotiation positions, or records whose release would interfere with responsible decision-making.
- Information owned or controlled by another organization that the Foundation is not authorized to disclose.
When possible, the Foundation may provide a public summary, remove identifying details, combine categories, or explain why a requested record cannot be released.
Privacy and data practices
The Foundation should collect and retain information for a defined purpose.
Program, scholarship, donor, volunteer, partner, website, and transaction information may be collected to administer activities, communicate, process payments, maintain required records, evaluate requests, prevent fraud, protect safety, comply with obligations, and report appropriate results.
The Foundation should avoid collecting sensitive information merely because it may be useful later. Access should be limited according to organizational responsibility, and public reporting should avoid exposing unnecessary personal details.
Ordinary email and voicemail should not be used to send passwords, complete Social Security numbers, complete payment-card data, banking credentials, detailed medical records, or unrelated confidential records.
Retention periods may differ according to the record, funding source, transaction, filing requirement, contract, safety concern, dispute, or legal obligation. Not every unsolicited attachment or inquiry must be retained permanently.
Corrections and updates
Material errors should be corrected rather than preserved for appearance.
Website information may become outdated because a program changes, a filing is completed, leadership information changes, an outside organization updates its requirements, a page is restructured, or a prior statement is discovered to be incomplete.
A correction request should identify the page address, exact wording, reason the statement appears inaccurate, and a reliable source when one is available. The Foundation may review the underlying record before changing the page.
A correction does not require deleting every historical reference. When prior information remains important, the Foundation may identify the reporting period, update the current statement, explain the change, or retain appropriate archival records outside the public page.
The date shown on this page reflects its most recent substantive review. It does not mean that every linked page, outside requirement, or public database was updated on the same date.
Concerns and complaints
Concerns should identify the conduct, record, program, or statement involved.
A person may contact the Foundation about an inaccurate public statement, donation or receipt issue, program concern, privacy question, potential conflict, participant-safety concern, inappropriate volunteer conduct, or another matter connected to Foundation activity.
Provide the relevant dates, people or organizations involved, program, communication, transaction reference, and a factual description. Do not publish confidential accusations or sensitive participant information in a public comment or social-media post when direct reporting is more appropriate.
The Foundation may need to preserve records, request additional information, limit communication, refer an emergency or legal matter to the appropriate authority, or explain that an issue falls outside its role.
Submitting a complaint does not guarantee a particular finding, payment, program decision, disciplinary action, public statement, or legal result.
Conflicts and related-party matters
Potential personal or business interests should be identified before approval.
A conflict may arise when a person involved in a Foundation decision has a personal, family, employment, ownership, vendor, donor, or other interest that could affect or appear to affect independent judgment.
The existence of a relationship does not automatically make a transaction improper. The relevant questions may include whether the relationship was disclosed, whether the terms are fair and reasonable, whether alternatives were considered, whether the decision supports the charitable mission, and whether the appropriate person authorized it.
A person with a material interest should not use a Foundation role to obtain an improper private benefit. Decisions involving related parties should be documented according to their significance and applicable requirements.
Financial reporting boundaries
This page is not an audited financial statement.
The Foundation’s public filing information, donation page, program descriptions, and this transparency summary provide organizational context. They do not constitute an audit, review, compilation, valuation, legal opinion, tax opinion, or guarantee regarding the financial condition of the organization.
Financial information may differ depending on whether it is presented on a cash basis, accrual basis, tax-return basis, internal management basis, grant basis, or another defined method. Restricted funds, unpaid commitments, in-kind support, refunds, payment-processing activity, and timing differences may affect interpretation.
When future financial summaries are published, they should identify the period, categories, method, and meaningful limitations. Estimates, budgets, goals, and pending grant requests should not be presented as received revenue or completed expenditures.
Accessibility and public understanding
Transparency information should be understandable, not merely available.
Public information is more useful when readers can identify the organization, reporting period, responsible program, type of funding, meaning of a measure, and the limits of a statement without specialized nonprofit terminology.
The Foundation may use summaries, tables, definitions, program pages, and plain-language explanations to make information easier to understand. A summary necessarily omits detail and should be read together with the relevant filing, transaction, agreement, or program information when a formal decision depends on it.
Questions about accessibility, an unclear statement, or an alternative format may be submitted through the Contact page. The Foundation cannot guarantee every requested format but may identify a practical option when resources allow.
Common questions
How to interpret this page
Is Red Tape Foundation a 501(c)(3)?
Yes. The Foundation reports federal recognition as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3), effective July 6, 2023.
What is the Foundation’s EIN?
The Federal Employer Identification Number listed by the Foundation is 93-2249560.
Which public filing is identified here?
The page identifies an IRS Form 990-N e-Postcard for the tax year ending December 31, 2025.
Does the Foundation publish every internal record?
No. Public accountability must be balanced with privacy, safety, privilege, legal obligations, security, and the confidentiality of participants, donors, volunteers, applicants, and organizational deliberations.
Are all donations used for one specific program?
No. General donations may be used where most needed. A restricted purpose must be accepted by the Foundation before it controls use of the contribution.
Does a program page mean services are available now?
No. Program descriptions may explain developing work. Registration, scholarships, classes, volunteer assignments, and partnerships require separate confirmation.
Can a donor select a scholarship recipient?
A donor may support an accepted scholarship purpose, but participant eligibility and award administration remain under appropriate Foundation control.
How can I report an error?
Use the Contact page and include the page address, exact wording, reason it appears inaccurate, and a reliable source when available.
Public accountability
Clear information supports responsible participation and community trust.
Red Tape Foundation will continue updating public information as programs, filings, partnerships, resources, and reporting practices develop. Questions should identify the specific record or statement involved and should avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information.