California Search and Rescue
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 208225445
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Orinda, CA, USA
- Phone
- 9259986467
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Search and Rescue Squads
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $50,088
- Expenses
- $31,605
- Assets
- $83,106
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
1 person listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Mike Dove (President)
People named in this filing
- Mike Dove (President)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
California Search and Rescue (CalSAR) is a volunteer search and rescue team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are deployed as mutual aid to help other counties and SAR organizations throughout California at the direction of the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES).CalSAR's purpose is dedicated to serving as a well-equipped response team for search and rescue emergencies under the jurisdiction of Cal OES as well as performing other acts beneficial to the community. These efforts reflect our commitment to enhancing community safety and well-being. CalSAR is also a charter member of the Bay Area Search & Rescue Council and serves as a SAR and training resource.
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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.1%; rating input score 63
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 36.9%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.63; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 125 of 125 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $32K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
- Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.