Bay Area Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237325853
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4159816600
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,002,720
Expenses
$7,547,109
Assets
$34,938,592
Liabilities
$30,367,008

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

Leadership & pay

179 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES WUNDERMAN (CEO)
  • JEFF BELLISARIO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BACEI)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES WUNDERMAN (CEO): $1,050,450 total reported compensation
  • JOHN GRUBB (COO): $469,175 total reported compensation
  • JULIE ROWE (CFO): $403,439 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our program service accomplishments include successes within the policy and research framework for bay area infrastructure including transportation, housing and land use, homelessness, workforce of the future, gender equity and diversity, water & climate resilience, early childhood education, government relations, healthcare & energy.

What it reported doing in 2024

The bay area council economic institute commissions top quality research projects and provides polling on various subject matters. Research and investigative reports are compiled so that objective decisions can be made concerning policy formation. Research work is performed in each of the defined program areas to include transportation, housing and land use, homelessness, workforce development, gender equality and diversity, water and climate resilience, early childhood education, government relations, healthcare and energy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.2%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 58.4%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 80.8%; rating input score 81; 22nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.63; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 45.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.2% of revenue deployed · 58.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 171 of 171 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 179 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $612K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.