Central Lutheran Church-van Nuys a Religious Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 951683873
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2021
- Forms available
- Form 990 2021
- Location
- Van Nuys, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8187855414
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $208,365
- Expenses
- $236,584
- Assets
- $620,000
- Liabilities
- $103,894
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Gerardo R Castro (Vice President)
- Barry Allen Smedberg (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Reverend Marsha E Harris (Pastor and Administrator): $65,470 total reported compensation
- Gerardo R Castro (Vice President): $2,528 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Worship, Faith Formation and Revitalization, Prayer and pastoral care within and beyond our borders, New Mission to proactively connect with our community, Social Justice through food security (food distribution, community garden) and to bring all cultural and economic levels and greater community groups to engage with the Central community.
What it reported doing in 2021
Worship Services and Faith Formation: 52 Sundays, including online only, online + In-Person Hybrid - we met in an interactive Zoom format weekly to promote our community and connect people from Los Angeles to Sacrament to San Diego; we enhanced worship with audio and video broadcasting equipment; We offered Prayer and Pastoral Care to 22 members, and 6-8 average weekly online guests, as well as 50 food volunteers and 350 avg weekly food distribution clients; offered Blessing of the Animals in October; baptized 1 Adult; Hosted Camp@Centrla for 21 children and 6 youth who otherwise would not have been able to attend a camp in 2021 due to financial limitations and/or summer school commitment. Our pastor served as one of 6 pastors providing Confirmation experience to 15 students in the greater San Fernando Valley rev of our ELCA partnership with Twin Valleys Lutheran Parish. In 2021, 6 of these students went through the Rite of Confirmation.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 66% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.1%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -13.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.62; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.1% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $196K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.