California Water Data Consortium

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842664083
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
4153905758
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,862,220
Expenses
$2,406,793
Assets
$1,585,018
Liabilities
$336,106

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tara Moran (Former CEO / President)
  • Robyn Grimm (CEO / President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Amanda Miller (Dir Ops/Fin/Sec): $157,447 total reported compensation
  • Hannah Ake (Sr Program Manager): $140,044 total reported compensation
  • Sonya Milonova (Sr Program Manager): $140,000 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 California Water Data Consortium is a nonprofit organization that supports state agency implementation of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act to ensure that state and local agencies, Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, researchers, and the public can readily access and use high-quality data necessary to sustainably manage water for the benefit of all Californians.

What it reported doing in 2024

Groundwater Accounting and Data Reporting Project: The open-source Groundwater Accounting Platform has officially launched for use across California. The Platform has been rolled out in our initial pilot regions and has added additional geographies to the user community. New users are on boarded with both standard and optional functionalities and may utilize the online training and onboarding materials in their basin. Learn more about the Groundwater Accounting Platform here: groundwateraccounting.orgThe Consortium's work in partnership with state agencies on groundwater data reporting formats has expanded over the past year. We finalized the communication and engagement plan, fact sheets, and data translation tool which will be published online with Department of Water Resources to support local and state agency staff as they manage groundwater data statewide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $48.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.9%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 52% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.3% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.