Central Ventura County Fire Safe Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271527559
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Ventura, CA, USA
Phone
8057467365
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,296,065
Expenses
$1,279,007
Assets
$846,495
Liabilities
$418,817

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREW ORTEGA (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL LAPLANT (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHEN WATSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN WATSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $102,978 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ventura regional fire safe council is a grassroots, community-led organization that mobilizes residents to protect their homes, communities, and environments from catastrophic wildfire, through collaborative planning, programs, mitigation and education.

What it reported doing in 2025

The ventura regional fire safe council (vrfsc) provides essential wildfire mitigation and awareness programs that enable ventura county's resilient and treasured communities to live more safely with the threat of wildfire. Our board of directors bring a deep and broad understanding of wildfire mitigation, resources, mapping, local legislation, and content expertise.facilitated 177 education and outreach events, webinars, town hall meetings, and workshops, reaching 6,637 people throughout ventura county. Maintained media and digital presence through various outreach platforms, achieving an estimated digital reach of over 53,000 individuals. Programs were offered in english and spanish to promote inclusion and equity.completed 730 home hardening assessments, helping residents identify and address the most vulnerable components of their homes to wildfire. Supported the recognition of over 40 firewise USA communities (41+ to date). Provided firewise USA program assistance and distributed over $25,000 in funding to support community-level wildfire resilience through chipper events, vegetation management, ember-resistant vents, yard signage, and other mitigation activities.delivered chipper and fuels reduction programs resulting in approximately 1,869 cubic yards of vegetation removed and 194 acres treated, supporting defensible space and neighborhood clean-up efforts. Through the resident grant program and related initiatives, provided home retrofits and targeted assistance to vulnerable and low-income residents to improve wildfire resistance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 82% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $37.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 59.5%; rating input score 59; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.9% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.