Tides Center

Overview

Mission

Tides center provides social change leaders comprehensive fiscal sponsorship - including operational, grantmaking, and capacity-building support - to propel the work of community-led organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Environment: in 2024, tides projects worked in the areas of environmental sustainability and sustainable agriculture practices. Programs worked at the local level to address environmental issues facing low-income, marginalized communities, as well as the national and international levels to spearhead campaigns for the preservation of our natural environment and animal welfare. Tides projects advocated for a more just, clean, and sustainable world from a variety of perspectives; from reducing environmental mercury exposure to developing regional food systems, and enhancing food security to supporting the farm-to-school food movement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943213100
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155616400
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $215.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $861K · 20 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.6M reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 45 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 470 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 465 filed related-organization links
  • 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

20 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JANIECE EVANS-PAGE (CEO): $861,260 total reported compensation
  • JAMES LUM (TREASURER AND CFO THRU 9/24): $615,755 total reported compensation
  • SUNEELA JAIN (SEC/CHIEF LEGAL & COMP OFFICER): $501,540 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.