Berkeley East Bay Humane Society Inc Dba Berkeley Humane

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941347069
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5108457735
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,363,409
Expenses
$4,373,748
Assets
$13,786,523
Liabilities
$1,084,204

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Lang (President)
  • Dr Alan Shriro (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeffrey Zerwekh (Exec Director): $291,796 total reported compensation
  • Kristen Loomer (Director Ops): $161,761 total reported compensation
  • Rochelle Morrissey (Veterinarian): $158,290 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Because the well-being of animals reflects the well-being of our community, we engage minds, hearts and hands to provide care for dogs and cats in the East Bay.

What it reported doing in 2025

ADOPTION The primary purpose of Berkeley Humane is to shelter homeless companionanimals until they are placed in suitable homes. In the 1970s, the Board of Directors committed to a revolutionary adoption guarantee model: that no healthy or treatable shelter animals in the Society's care would be euthanized. This commitment set the stage for Berkeley Humane placing 100% of healthy and treatable animals into loving homes for nearly forty years, a commitment that awarded Berkeley Humane and partner organizations the prestigious Maddies Fund Lifesaving Award in 2009. Berkeley Humane serves the animals and people of Berkeley and the East Bay with vital services that last year alone matched over 1,000 animals with loving families and individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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 - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.7%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40.6%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.15; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.7% of revenue deployed · 84.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $292K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Board meeting minutes documented not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.