Animalsave

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942307359
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Grass Valley, CA, USA
Phone
5302717071
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Reported finances

Revenue
$656,321
Expenses
$488,820
Assets
$1,700,870
Liabilities
$261,370

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carolyn Niehaus (Executive Director, Director)
  • Diana Bailey (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Carolyn Niehaus (Executive Director, Director): $66,473 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

AnimalSave transforms the lives of cats and dogs by providing humane education, affordable spay and neuter services and finding loving homes. Programs are administered by 5 staff members and over 50 volunteers. In 2024 volunteer hours totaled over 20,000.

What it reported doing in 2024

AnimalSave's Low-Cost Spay Neuter Clinic is its proactive effort to solve the problem of dog and cat overpopulation. Operating one or two days per week, in 2024, 1,460 dogs and cats were altered using this service. Since the clinic began in March 2008, over 26,000 animals have been spayed or neutered. We estimate this has prevented the unwanted birth of over one million dogs and cats. Clinic revenues include fees for the low-cost surgery service, vaccinations, tests and donated funds received from individuals and foundations that support this work. Clinic expenses include veterinary and surgical costs, supplies, equipment, insurance, and other operating costs. A component of the Spay/Neuter Clinic is the Trap Neuter Return Program. The TNR program provides low-cost surgical fees, traps, trapping guidance and volunteer help to individuals wanting to trap and alter stray cats. This is an important part of AnimalSave's approach to preventing cat overpopulation and the resulting nuisance, health and safety issues that come with large feral cat colonies. Young kittens trapped in colonies are often taken into the Foster/Adoption program, placed in foster homes, socialized, and when old enough, are altered and available for adoption.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 38
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.7%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 49.2%; rating input score 49
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.5%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.48; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 37.7% of revenue deployed · 49.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $240K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.