Ccof Certification Services Llc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223867347
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8314232263
Rating
39
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Agricultural Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,551,826
Expenses
$21,578,832
Assets
$10,191,403
Liabilities
$10,537,483

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KELLY DAMEWOOD (MGMT CMTE CHAIR): $284,326 total reported compensation
  • APRIL VASQUEZ (CCO): $235,496 total reported compensation
  • SARAH REED (HANDLER CERT): $143,099 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ccof certification services, llc, a wholly owned subsidiary of California certified organic farmers inc., provides a wide array of cost-effective, organic certification programs. Ccof certifies farm and livestock operations, processors, retailers, private labelers, and restaurants. Ccof certification services is accredited by the usda national organic program. To ensure international trade access for its clients, ccof also maintains iso guide 65 accreditation with the usda agricultural marketing service and ioas for eu equivalency and canadian organic regime accreditation and are cartv registered for sales quebec.

What it reported doing in 2024

CCOF CERTIFICATION SERVICES LLC HAS BEEN ACCREDITED TO THE NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. THE ORGANIZATION PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS ORGANIC AGRICULTURE THROUGH ITS ORGANIC CERTIFICATION PROGRAM. During 2024, the Organization certified 4,420 organic operations across 46 states and 3 countries to deliver organic products to consumers around the world. Certification staff earned the USDA National Organic Programs Data Integrity Award for the eighth year in a row for excellence in quality data management. The Organization also supported organic certification cost share reimbursement for 1,372 CCOF members totaling $1,418,044 in organic certification fees refunds and $340,381 in California stateregistration fee refunds.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

REVIEW - Most voting board members are independent and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 53
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.03; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -29.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $284K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $868K reported
  • Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.