California Fire Prevention Organization

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473376066
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Phone
8004704946
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness & Relief N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$189,842
Expenses
$186,895
Assets
$826
Liabilities
$68,251

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Cameron Barrett (Board Member General Manager): $30,400 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To mitigate the risks of wildfires, residential fires, and other natural or human-caused disasters, we focus on building more resilient communities. Our efforts are concentrated on smaller, vulnerable communities with populations under 150,000 throughout California.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization is committed to developing and delivering specialized programs designed to mitigate risks, enhance resilience, and strengthen partnerships with local first responders. It operates diligently to ensure the provision of programs that are either unavailable or not typically offered through conventional fire department channels. The organization employs trained and uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), paramedics, and public safety specialists who work closely with the public, local fire departments, and community leaders to identify and reach at-risk populations. It excels in developing, implementing, and analyzing processes known as Community Risk Reduction (CRR). Risk reduction is not merely a presentation or the responsibility of a fire prevention specialist; rather, it begins with regional analysis, identifying existing risk factors, and formulating strategies to mitigate those risks.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.5%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 1.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 82.63; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -27.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.5% of revenue deployed · 96% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $179K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.