Client Portal — Sage Strategy Partners

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Phase 1 of 3

Review the financial projections

Before making any changes in Pay.gov, please review the financial projections below. This gives you the full context of what was entered and why — so that when you open Pay.gov in Phase 2, you are prepared.

Where things stand

CAN's Form 1023 application for 501(c)(3) recognition is at Version 3. Sage has reviewed the application and addressed the items identified in earlier drafts. A few items remain that require your review and confirmation before the application can be submitted.

Once these are complete, the application is ready for Amy Quandt's signature and submission.

Items confirmed correct

Items to address in Pay.gov

Balance sheet to confirm

Signature required at filing

Step 1 — Review the three-year projections

These are the financial figures entered in the Form 1023. To adjust any number, click "Open in Google Sheets" — any changes you make there will also need to be reflected in Pay.gov. Review the figures and note anything you would like to change before proceeding to Phase 2.

Open in Google Sheets ↗

CAN Pro Forma V3 — IRS Form 1023 Projections ● Live

Step 2 — Understand what each line means

$ Revenue lines explained ⌄

Grants & contributionsLine 1

Money received as donations or grants — no service provided in return. CAN's primary income source.
Examples: USDA NRCS grant, foundation grant, individual donor gift, fiscal sponsor transfer.

Other revenueSource requires confirmation ⚑

Income that does not fit the grants or program service revenue lines. The source of the projected amounts has not been identified and should be confirmed or zeroed out before filing.
Examples: event sponsorship, merchandise sales, in-kind contributions at fair market value.

Program service revenueLine 9

Fees earned by delivering CAN's own programs where a service is provided in exchange for payment. This is distinct from a grant.
Examples: farmer workshop registration fees, curriculum or toolkit sales, training fees paid by a partner agency.

$ Expense lines explained ⌄

Line 14Fundraising expenses

Costs directly related to soliciting donations. Projected at $4,000 in Year 1 and $0 thereafter — confirm this reflects CAN's actual fundraising plans in Years 2 and 3.
Examples: grant writer fees, donor outreach materials, fundraising event costs.

Line 18Salaries and wages

W-2 compensation paid directly to CAN employees. Per the PDF: $30,000 / $52,800 / $88,000. The IRS will view salary in proportion to total revenue — ensure the ratio is defensible.
Examples: Executive Director salary, program staff wages, part-time staff pay.

Line 22Professional fees

Payments to outside professionals for legal, accounting, consulting, or other specialized services. This line may include fees paid to outside professionals for strategic advisory support where applicable.
Examples: attorney fees, CPA or bookkeeper, fractional COO or CFO, HR consultant.

Line 23Any other expenses not otherwise classified

Operating costs not captured on other lines. Per the PDF: $3,300 / $2,500 / $2,500.
Examples: program supplies, travel, postage, printing, software, insurance, website hosting.

A note on projections. These are forward-looking estimates — not a budget, not a contract, and not a binding commitment. The IRS requires them to understand CAN's financial trajectory. The figures need to be reasonable and internally consistent. The IRS fully expects them to evolve as the organization matures.

Step 3 — Confirm the balance sheet

Balance sheet date and current financial position

Because CAN has not yet completed its first full tax year, the IRS requires the balance sheet to reflect CAN's actual current financial position — not a projected year-end date. The balance sheet in the V3 PDF shows a year-end date of 12/31/2026 with all zeros, which is a future date as of this filing. This should be corrected to reflect the most current date available (on or near the filing date) and must reflect CAN's actual assets, liabilities, and fund balances as of that date.

Please confirm: Has CAN received any funds, opened a bank account, or incurred any payables as a standalone entity? If yes, those amounts must appear on the balance sheet. If CAN's financial position is genuinely zero across all lines as of the filing date, a zero balance sheet is appropriate — but the date must be current, not future-dated.

I have reviewed the projections and confirmed the balance sheet date and financial position

Check the box above once you have reviewed the financials and confirmed the balance sheet.
Phase 2 unlocks when complete.

Phase 2 of 3

Make these updates in Pay.gov

Log into Pay.gov and work through the four items below in order — they follow the sequence of the application from beginning to end. Check each one off as you address it.

0% done

Ready when you are

0 of 4 items addressed

In application order — Part I through Part VII 4 remaining

Part I — Contact person field

Form 1023 requires the contact person to be an officer, director, trustee, or formally authorized representative. Unless Katherine is serving in one of those capacities, or has been formally designated through Form 2848, she should not be listed in this field. Note also that per IRS guidance, a Form 2848 designee may not sign the application itself unless they are also an officer, director, or trustee — Form 2848 addresses contact authority only, not signature authority.

Option 1: List Amy Quandt as Chair — the most straightforward path, as she already signs the application at Part X.
Option 2: Execute Form 2848 designating Katherine as CAN's authorized representative for contact purposes and upload it with the application — understanding that the Part X signature must still come from Amy Quandt or another officer.

Resolve before filing

Part IV — Lines 9c, 9d, 9f

These sub-questions are conditionally displayed in Pay.gov based on upstream answers. Check whether Lines 9c, 9d, and 9f are visible in your session.

If they appear: Answer "Yes" for 9c and 9d (one sentence each referencing the Line 9 narrative) and "No" for 9f.
If they do not appear: No action needed — the portal has determined they are not required for CAN's configuration.

Check portal — may not be required

Part VI-A — Other revenue source not itemized in Question 25

The "other revenue" line shows $5,000 / $10,000 / $10,000 across all three years, but Question 25 (the itemized financial narrative) does not identify what this revenue represents. The IRS will expect it to be explained.

If intentional: Add a brief entry in Question 25 identifying the source — for example, event sponsorship income, merchandise sales, or in-kind contributions valued at fair market value.
If entered in error: Zero out this line and confirm whether the amount belongs in the grants/contributions line or the program service revenue line instead.

Note also: The fundraising expenses line shows $4,000 in Year 1 only and $0 in Years 2 and 3. If CAN anticipates any fundraising activity in Years 2 or 3, those costs should be reflected. If fundraising activity is genuinely limited to Year 1, no change is needed.

Confirm before filing

Part VII — Foundation classification box

The 509(a)(1) / 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) public charity box appeared selected in a Pay.gov screenshot but does not appear selected in the V3 PDF. Confirm this selection is saved before submitting. If this box is left blank, the IRS may default CAN to private foundation status, which materially complicates grant eligibility and funding strategy for a grant-funded organization.

Verify the selection is saved in Pay.gov

Work through the items above in Pay.gov in order.
Check each off as you complete it.

Phase 3 of 3

You are almost there

One final item at the time of filing — then this application is ready to submit.

✓ Six items have been confirmed correct in V3

The work Sage completed on Version 3 resolved the following issues. These require no further action from you — they are included here for transparency and your records.

✓ Show confirmed correct items ⌄

Part V Line 7 — outside management arrangement correctly answered

Part V Line 7 asks whether someone other than CAN's own employees or volunteers manages CAN's activities or facilities under a compensated arrangement. The V3 PDF answers "No." This is correct as filed — confirm that this answer remains accurate relative to CAN's current arrangements before submitting. If any formal compensated management agreement has been executed since V3 was prepared, this answer and the accompanying narrative must be updated accordingly.

Confirm before filing

Part IV Line 15 — Schedule H correctly answered "No"

Schedule H is triggered by scholarships, fellowships, or educational grants to individuals for study purposes. CAN's farmer payments are conservation practice implementation subsidies — cost-share payments tied to on-the-ground outcomes like windbreaks and silvopasture. These are charitable financial assistance tied to a conservation outcome on real property, not scholarships to individuals. "No" is correct and Schedule H does not apply.

Future note: If CAN ever creates a formal farmer fellowship, training stipend, or travel grant for study purposes, that would trigger Schedule H. The current cost-share model does not.

No change needed

Part IV narrative — all 6 required IRS elements addressed per program area

V3 now describes what the activity is, who conducts it, where it occurs, the percentage of time and expenses allocated, how it is funded, and how it furthers CAN's exempt purposes — for all five program areas. This is the most heavily reviewed section of the full 1023 and the leading cause of IRS follow-up letters in new organization applications.

Resolved in V3

Part V Line 3 — grant-based bonus structure removed

Prior draft tied employee bonuses to a percentage of awarded grant amounts — a potential private inurement concern. V3 correctly frames bonuses as discretionary and performance-based, approved in advance by disinterested board members using comparability data from similarly situated nonprofits.

Resolved in V3

Part IV Line 4 — unrelated business income correctly zeroed out

CAN's projected activities are mission-related. Prior draft showed phantom UBI figures that invited unnecessary IRS scrutiny. V3 correctly shows $0 across all three years.

Resolved in V3

Financial projection errors and "1023-EZ" reference corrected

Financial projection math reconciled across all lines. The erroneous "IRS Form 1023-EZ" reference corrected to "Form 1023." Professional fees updated to $2,500 / $3,500 / $5,000. Grants: $60,000 / $72,000 / $160,000. Program service revenue: $10,000 / $50,000 / $63,000. Total revenue: $75,000 / $132,000 / $233,000. Total expenses: $39,800 / $58,800 / $95,500. Note: The "other revenue" source and the fundraising expense trajectory remain open items requiring confirmation before filing. The balance sheet date has been identified as a separate item requiring correction.

Math resolved in V3

↓ What Sage improved in V3 — and why it matters ⌄

Part IV narrative substantially expanded

V3 now addresses all 6 required IRS elements — what the activity is, who conducts it, where it occurs, percentage of time and expenses, how it is funded, and how it furthers the exempt purpose — for each of CAN's five program areas. This is the most heavily reviewed section of the full 1023 and the leading cause of IRS follow-up letters in new organization applications.

Grant-based bonus structure removed

The prior draft tied employee bonuses to a percentage of awarded grant amounts — a potential private inurement concern that could jeopardize CAN's exempt status. V3 correctly frames bonuses as discretionary and performance-based, approved in advance by disinterested board members using comparability data from similarly situated nonprofits.

Unrelated business income zeroed out

Prior drafts projected UBI across all three years for activities CAN has no concrete plan to conduct. Phantom UBI invites IRS scrutiny of a business activity that does not exist. V3 correctly shows $0 across all three years, consistent with CAN's mission-related program model.

Financial projection errors corrected

Year 3 itemization math fixed and figures reconciled across all lines. The erroneous "IRS Form 1023-EZ" reference corrected to "Form 1023." Professional fees updated to reflect realistic accounting and legal costs. Revenue projections and total figures reconciled. Balance sheet year-end field date correction identified and flagged.

Schedule H inconsistency resolved

The prior draft marked Part IV Line 15 as "Yes" but left Schedule H entirely blank — a direct contradiction the IRS would flag. V3 correctly answers "No" because CAN's farmer payments are conservation practice cost-share distributions, not individual educational grants that trigger Schedule H.

Part V compensation governance strengthened

V3 confirms that officers and directors are uncompensated at formation, that any future compensation requires advance board approval by disinterested members using comparability data, and that all compensation decisions are documented in writing. The conflict of interest policy is confirmed consistent with IRS Appendix A.

At time of filing

Part X — Amy Quandt signs as Chair and checks the perjury declaration

The signature block is currently blank — expected at this stage. At the time of submission, Amy Quandt must sign as Chair and check the perjury declaration checkbox. Pay.gov will not accept the filing without both. Confirm Amy is available and prepared to sign before initiating the final Pay.gov submission session.

Amy Quandt signs as Chair

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