Coastal Ranches Conservancy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680554135
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-T 2023, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Gaviota, CA, USA
Phone
8055675957
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$653,410
Expenses
$425,777
Assets
$627,829
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kim Kimbell (President)
  • Candice Meneghin (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Candice Meneghin (Executive Director): $65,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Coastal Ranches Conservancy supports nature conservation, restoration, and education along the Gaviota Coast

What it reported doing in 2025

1. Implementation of Settlement with State Parks-$19,0961. Gaviota Creek Estuary Restoration Technical Advisory Group- $18,1972. Gaviota Coast Biodiversity Initiative- only staff time3. Sentinel Landscape Partnership-only staff time4. Lawsuit against Caltrans for violations of Endangered Species Act- legal and consulting expenses of$79,438

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 56% for direct work, and 44% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.7%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $190.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97%; rating input score 97; 48th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 34.8%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.7% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $370K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.