Center for Independent Living

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237175191
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5104225033
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,996,267
Expenses
$4,370,584
Assets
$9,651,020
Liabilities
$1,841,931

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICIA ESPINOSA (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $128,750 total reported compensation
  • VICTOR PINEDA (Executive Dir.): $79,989 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Center for independent living (cil) provides services, support and advocacy to enhance the rights and abilities of people with disabilities to actively participate in their communities and to live self-determined lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mobility matters!-travel training & transit access-cil travel training programs have become the bay area model for teaching people with all types of disabilities how to get where they need to, quickly and affordably. Partnerships with actc, mtc and other bay area cities have expanded exponentially since the inception of the program. 40+ people were trained one-on-one to get where they want to this year and the program continues to reach more people. A partnership with bart resulted in making their web site more accessible, getting train and transit information to all their riders with disabilities (vision, hearing & physical). Cil joined other disability advocates to ensure that the planned new bart cars be built with access for riders with visual, hearing and physical limitations alongside other riders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 81% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 63%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.21; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 63% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 9 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $102K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Board meeting minutes documented not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.