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Communication First

  • Washington, DC
  • Tax-exempt since March 2019
  • EIN: 83-0836835

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Educational Institutions and Related Activities / Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue
$739k (2024)

Expenses
$467k (2024)

Total Assets
$625k (2024)

Total Liabilities
$13.3k (2024)

Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2018 to 2024

Tax Filings by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2024

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$739,384
Expenses
$467,417
Net Income
$271,967
Net Assets
$612,141
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $511,139
69.1%
Program Services $226,717
30.7%
Investment Income $1,528
0.2%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $100,710
21.5%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $178,331
38.2%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $625,477
Total Liabilities $13,336
Net Assets $612,141
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Tauna Szymanski (Executive Director & Legal Director) $100,000 $0 $710
Jordyn Zimmerman (Chair) $0 $0 $0
Francisco Ramirez (Vice Chair) $0 $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
M Christopher Williams (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
Susie Lotharius (Director) $0 $0 $0
Toby Latham (Director) $0 $0 $0
India Ochs (Director) $0 $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tim Jin (Director) $0 $0 $0
Lateef Mcleod (Director) $0 $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0 $0
Godfrey Nazareth (Director) $0 $0 $0
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Document Links

990
Filed on Oct. 31, 2025

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2023

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$227,996
Expenses
$384,837
Net Income
-$156,841
Net Assets
$341,120
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $180,265
79.1%
Program Services $47,731
20.9%
Investment Income $0
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $98,241
25.5%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $202,906
52.7%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $341,635
Total Liabilities $515
Net Assets $341,120
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Tauna Szymanski (Executive Director & Legal Director) $97,641 $0 $600
Jordyn Zimmerman (Chair) $0 $0 $0
Francisco Ramirez (Vice Chair) $0 $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
M Christopher Williams (Treasurer (From Sept 2023)) $0 $0 $0
Susie Lotharius (Treasurer (Thru Sept 2023), Director) $0 $0 $0
Maria Ott (Secretary (Thru Apr 2023)) $0 $0 $0
India Ochs (Director) $0 $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tim Jin (Director) $0 $0 $0
Lateef Mcleod (Director) $0 $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0 $0
Clarissa Kripke (Director (Thru Apr 2023)) $0 $0 $0
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Document Links

990
Filed on Oct. 22, 2024

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$422,781
Expenses
$285,857
Net Income
$136,924
Net Assets
$497,961
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $402,951
95.3%
Program Services $15,023
3.6%
Investment Income $0
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $4,807
1.1%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $42,825
15.0%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $498,371
Total Liabilities $410
Net Assets $497,961
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Tim Jin (Director) $0 $0 $0
Lateef Mcleod (Director) $0 $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0 $0
Suzanne Lotharius (Director) $0 $0 $0
India Ochs (Director) $0 $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0 $0
Chris Williams (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
Jordyn Zimmerman (Chair) $0 $0 $0
Francisco Ramirez (Vice Chair) $0 $0 $0
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Document Links

990
Filed on Nov. 13, 2023

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$262,273
Expenses
$231,533
Net Income
$30,740
Net Assets
$113,367
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $255,029
97.2%
Program Services $7,244
2.8%
Investment Income $0
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $113,367
Total Liabilities $0
Net Assets $113,367
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jordyn Zimmerman (Director) $0 $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tim Jin (Director) $0 $0 $0
Pancho Ramirez (Director) $0 $0 $0
Lateef Mcleod (Director) $0 $0 $0
Judy Heumann (Director) $0 $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Director) $0 $0 $0
Clarissa Kripke (Vice Chair) $0 $0 $0
India Ochs (Chair) $0 $0 $0
Maria Ott (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
Suzanne Lotharius (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
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Document Links

990
Filed on May 13, 2022

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$274,279
Expenses
$202,819
Net Income
$71,460
Net Assets
$82,627
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $256,967
93.7%
Program Services $17,312
6.3%
Investment Income $0
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $82,627
Total Liabilities $0
Net Assets $82,627
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Tim Jin (Director) $0 $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Director) $0 $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0 $0
Judy Heumann (Director) $0 $0 $0
Jordyn Zimmerman (Director) $0 $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0 $0
Clarissa Kripke (Vice Chair) $0 $0 $0
India Ochs (Chair) $0 $0 $0
Maria Ott (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
Suzanne Lotharius (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
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Document Links

990
Filed on May 17, 2021

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from 990-EZ
Revenue
$115,544
Expenses
$122,220
Net Income
-$6,676
Net Assets
$11,167
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $114,436
99.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $1,108
1.0%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $11,167
Total Liabilities $0
Net Assets $11,167
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Other
India Ochs (Chair) $0 $0
Clarissa Kripke (Vice Chair) $0 $0
Suzanne Lotharius (Treasurer) $0 $0
Allison Thurman (Secretary) $0 $0
Melissa Crisp Cooper (Director) $0 $0
Gita Gupta (Director) $0 $0
Judy Heumann (Director) $0 $0
Ido Kedar (Director) $0 $0
Erin Sheldon (Director) $0 $0
Sue Swenson (Director) $0 $0
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Document Links

990-EZ
Filed on July 12, 2020

Short form tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2018

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from 990-EZ
Revenue
$69,716
Expenses
$51,874
Net Income
$17,842
Net Assets
$17,843
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $65,225
93.6%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $4,491
6.4%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $17,843
Total Liabilities $0
Net Assets $17,843

Document Links

990-EZ

Short form tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

About This Data

What Is This Data?

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

In addition to the raw summary data, we link to PDFs and digital copies of full Form 990 documents wherever possible. This consists of separate releases by the IRS of Form 990 documents processed by the agency, which we update regularly.

We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016. These audits are copied from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Which Organizations Are Here?

Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via a Form 990N "e-Postcard."

Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed a Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990PF. Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N "e-Postcard" are not included in this data.

Types of Nonprofits

There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list »

Get the Data

For those interested in acquiring the original data from the source, here’s where our data comes from:

  • Raw filing data. Includes EINs and summary financials as structured data.
  • Exempt Organization profiles. Includes organization names, addresses, etc. You can merge this with the raw filing data using EIN numbers.
  • Form 990 documents. Prior to 2017, these documents were obtained and processed by Public.Resource.org and ProPublica. Bulk PDF downloads since 2017 are available from the IRS.
  • Form 990 documents as XML files. Includes complete filing data (financial details, names of officers, tax schedules, etc.) in machine-readable format. Only available for electronically filed documents. Electronic data released prior to October 2021 is also available through Amazon Web Services.
  • Audits. PDFs of single or program-specific audits for nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year. Available for fiscal year 2015 and later.

API

The data powering this website is available programmatically, via an API. Read the API documentation »

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About Nonprofit Explorer

Nonprofit Explorer

Browse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations with ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer. See details like executive compensation, revenue, expenses and more. Search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings.

By Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu and Brandon Roberts.

Design by Jeff Frankl. Additional development by Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, and Sisi Wei.

E-file viewer adapted from IRS e-File Viewer by Ben Getson. Code for scraping audit documents adapated from Govwiki.

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