Bay Area Council Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201826827
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4159816600
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,775,703
Expenses
$5,850,106
Assets
$46,809,078
Liabilities
$40,195,062

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

Leadership & pay

43 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES WUNDERMAN (CEO)

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 vision of a stronger, innovative, globally competitive and more vibrant region is empowered by our mission to support the bay area council and invest philanthropic resources toward building stronger more vibrant communities (continued on schedule o)a healthy economy and a more innovative and globally competitive and sustainable bay area. Backed by the bay area council a 501(c)(4) organization with over 60 years of experience and a sucessful track record in the policy arena, we provide a strong framework and resource base for addressing the interdependent forcesthat govern the regional economy with an eye on local, state, national and international factors. The foundation work can be summarized in three key words: researching; educating; implementing.

What it reported doing in 2024

California resilience program - the California resilience challenge is a statewide initiative to support innovative climate adaptation planning. The program provides grants up to $200,000 to strengthen local resilience to climate-related threats such as wildfire, drought, flood, and extreme heat events. The initiative is designed to create scalable plans and infrastructure to meet the immediate and long-term climate adaptation needs of communities across the state.

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 83% 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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 1st 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99%; rating input score 99; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: -54.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.86; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 40 of 40 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 43 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 29 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.