Center for Teen Flourishing Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Only 34% of its spending went to programs.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
Center for Teen Flourishing aims to turn teen languishing into flourishing-more hours on sports, arts, paid work, homework, in-person friends, and sleep; fewer hours doomscrolling. To this end, we scrutinize Conventional Wisdom and do 2 things: Suggest new empirical experiments (nerdy) and get in there ourselves to test ideas with real teens (humbly disclosing what worked and what failed).
- Income
- $500,100
- Spending
- $115,914
- Spent on programs
- 34%
- Reserves
- 39.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 100%
- Employees
- 2
- Volunteers
- 5
- Highest pay
- $45,513, treasurer/director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 82 out of 100. Higher than 62% of charities in its peer group (youth development, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 39.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 77% of income.
Spending floor
0 of 1534% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 8 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Fair: 56 out of 100. Higher than 30% of charities in its peer group (youth development, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
5 of 251 of 3 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $38,944 spent. The Center for Teen Flourishing received its 501(c)(3) determination and officially launched as an R&D lab focused on teen wellbeing during the 3pm - 3am hours. CTF developed pilots in behavioral activation and part time placement for teens, and co-published a book of ADHD coaching case studies (I'll Do It Later.) CTF added Jenny Anderson (NYT, WSJ) as a part time Senior Fellow to lead communications and research storytelling and added Payton Rouhanifard to the Board of Directors.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Worth knowing.
Recognized by the IRS in October 2025. It is too new to have a track record.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.