Coastal Business Finance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953558666
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Santa Maria, CA, USA
Phone
8057391665
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$380,631
Expenses
$451,351
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Brian Kearns (Executive Direc): $112,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1982, Coastal Business Finance is a California nonprofit corporation, licensed and certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide California businesses with low-cost, long-term financing. Coastal Business Finance is chartered by the federal government as a Certified Development Corporation (CDC), and by the SBA as an Accredited Lending Provider (ALP).

What it reported doing in 2022

504 Loan Program-assists small businesses in obtaining SBA 504 loans. SBA 504 loans are a partnership between a CDC and a bank, or non-bank lender, to provide up to 90% financing for the purchase of commercial property, new construction, building expansion and remodeling, machinery and equipment with long useful lives, and the associated soft costs of construction and renovation, at fixed, below-market interest rates, with ten or twenty year repayment terms, to maximize working capital.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.6%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.1% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $373K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is not authorized to operate as a charity in California.