Sustainable Systems Research Foundation

Overview

Mission

The Sustainable Systems Research Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit green think tank and project incubator based in Santa Cruz, California. SSRF seeks to: Address complex and wicked environmental and sustainability problems that confound communities, defy singular technical or social solutions and cannot be addressed successfully at a global scale. Bring together numerous stakeholders with competing interests, capacities and approaches while addressing the critical importance of equity and justice. Collaborate with partner organizations to incubate and develop local projects and programs that promote community sustainability and development. Pursue projects that are replicable and scalable, based on best practices and insights drawn from successful projects. Our philosophy is that a project or program implemented successfully at one site can be replicated in many other places, with appropriate adjustments to local conditions.

What it reported doing in 2025

SSRF fiscally sponsored and supported Regeneration, a project to provide technical assistance and other services to disadvantaged operators of small farms (less than 50 acres) on the Central Coast of California and to develop a training curriculum for extension instructors and farmers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for affiliated organizations.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472856470
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
Headquarters
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8315887625
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.2%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 39.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 47.2% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.2% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $249K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 annual filings from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2025.