The Overhead Ratio Is Lying to You — I Built an AI Tool to Prove It

Developer Hassan Shah has launched GlassPocket, an open-source tool designed to challenge the traditional 'overhead ratio' used to evaluate charities. The project argues that focusing solely on the percentage of funds spent on programs versus administrative costs often leads to the 'starvation cycle,' where organizations become under-resourced. Using the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer API, GlassPocket provides deeper financial insights, including reserve months, operating margins, and staff-investment shares. The tool leverages Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash to generate myth-busting narratives and power a grounded chat feature that answers questions based strictly on IRS Form 990 data. Built with Next.js and TypeScript, the application aims to provide a more nuanced, data-driven perspective on nonprofit efficiency, moving away from simplistic metrics that often penalize necessary infrastructure investments. The project is currently available as a live demo, with the source code accessible on GitHub.