Coalition for Safe Coastal Development

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874054880
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Venice, CA, USA
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$65,913
Expenses
$68,963
Assets
$12,005

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Seth Lichtenstein (President and Director)

People named in this filing

  • Seth Lichtenstein (President and Director)
  • Rita Silverman (CFO Secretary and Director)
  • Charles Rosin (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The organization is a Section 501c4 social welfare organization whose primary exempt purpose is to promote the quality of life for residents in Venice in the City of Los Angeles through involvement advocacy and education. The organizations immediate goal is to ensure that environmental protections and due process with respect to city state and federal laws and related policy and procedural requirements are respected and followed for development in the Venice coastal community so that the environment and public safety are not put at risk.

What it reported doing in 2025

We advocate against a proposed massive mixed-use development the Project by the City of Los Angeles on a heavily utilized public parking lot that provides substantial parking for Venice Beach and is located in an environmentally sensitive FEMA-designated flood zone subject to sea level rise along a tsunami evacuation route and adjacent to federally protected canals. The Project ignores safe coastal development principles and would severely reduce existing public access to affordable beach parking and limit future parking expansion. We represent community interests by submitting letters attending public hearings and encouraging public participation in opposition to the Project. We file public interest appeals litigation when deemed necessary in connection with city and coastal permits that fail to protect the Coastal Zone. We maintain a website and send emails to educate and inform the public regarding environmental coastal and public safety issues affecting the Venice community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.2% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.9% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $69K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.