Betti Ono Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
863301756
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Emeryville, CA, USA
Phone
5104735919
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,143,081
Expenses
$1,113,346
Assets
$989,908
Liabilities
$13,152

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANYKA HOWARD (CEO/PRESIDEN)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANYKA HOWARD (CEO/PRESIDEN): $186,582 total reported compensation
  • MIKE NICHOLLS (EMPLOYEE): $103,532 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

"the betti ono foundation designs and produces high-impact arts, community engagement & cultural development initiatives that leverage cultural products and networks for good. The betti ono foundation operations are headquartered in oakland, California, and our work is produced locally and nationally in other geographies in cultural spaces, the public sphere, and online. The mission of betti ono foundation is to build power through culture. Our vision and creative practice embody the bold, curious and unapologetic spirit of our namesakes: betti mabry davis and yoko ono. We value art-making as a function of activism, community transformation, and cultural resilience. As a black women-led and operated organization, we are dedicated to amplifying the lives and work of artists and communities who are black, brown, immigrant, indigenous, and lgbtq+."

What it reported doing in 2024

Our cultural permanence strategy aims to create wealth-building and cooperative ownership opportunities for bipoc artists, cultural workers, and community-based organizations through land and real estate purchases. The betti ono mobile hub: the mobile hub is a mobile unit for culture, art, and advocacy that can be used for various programming, including workshops, events, performances, studios for inresidency programs, and collaborative gatherings. Through the betti ono mobile hub and in partnership with community arts stabilization trust (cast) and blinklab architecture, betti ono will be able to meet people and communities where they are, showcase local artists, and engage audiences on critical advocacy issues. The mobile hub allows us to have unprecedented access to local communities in new and exciting ways. The blacspace cooperative: in coordination with other black led cultural organizations, the blacspace cooperative leverages the black arts movement tradition to build a supportive ecosystem where black arts, business, ownership, and culture thrive. Launched in 2021 with three local partners: black culture zone (bcz), the black arts movement business district community development corporation (bambd, cdc), and the east bay permanent real estate cooperative (ebprec). Blacspace has a longterm vision of building a network of programs and cooperative business practices that sustain a network of cultural spaces throughout oakland. Over the next year, betti ono will finalize different aspects necessary for future property acquisition, including conducting a feasibility study, developing a business plan, and creating a financing model.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.1%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 64.8%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 74.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -25.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -20% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.1% of revenue deployed · 64.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $722K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.