Bananas

Legal name: Bananas Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942247074
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, US
Phone
510-658-7353
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Child Day Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$41,806,809
Expenses
$41,791,419
Assets
$11,188,787
Liabilities
$7,029,560

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KIM JOHNSON (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KIM JOHNSON (CEO): $239,947 total reported compensation
  • CATE EJJED (DIR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION): $189,529 total reported compensation
  • LYNNE GRAHAM (DIR PEOPLE & OPERATIONS): $175,598 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

BANANAS mission is to partner with families and child care providers to raise happy, confident children.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community services - provide child care referrals, child rearing information and services to parents. Provide technical assistance and training for child care providers. Child care resource & referral services - 5,650 families assisted in seeking childcare. Parent education - held 212 family workshops. Family navigation - 10 workshops, served: 138 care families, 175 children experiencing homelessness, 36 foster care families, 302 families at havenscourt cubhouse. Family resources - served 95 parents with mental health warmline coaching, 390 parents attended workshops and 212 families attended workshops. Health & safety - 217 participants received cpr and preventative health certificates. Professional development for child care providers - 72 workshops held, 678 child care providers served. Tiny steps / headstart - 59 children served in 11 family child care homes in oakland. Playgroups - 118 playgroup sessions, serving 102 kids and their caregivers to provide 1,511 learning experiences in numeracy, literacy, music, and art. Family friend & neighbor - served 31 child care providers. Diaper distribution: 213,816 diapers distributed and 1,770 families served. Stem materials distribution: 1,200 kits distributed to care providers. Havenscourt cubhouse: bananas satellite office in east oakland supports families and caregivers in that area.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $133.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 98% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $41M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $240K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.