Community Services Employment Training (CSET)

Legal name: Community Services and Employment Training Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941701352
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Visalia, CA, US
Phone
(559) 732-4194
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$38,237,006
Expenses
$36,091,896
Assets
$27,387,677
Liabilities
$16,699,221

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVE GRAYBEHL (PRESIDENT)
  • MARIA BECERRA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARY ALICE ESCARSEGA-FECHNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY ALICE ESCARSEGA-FECHNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $192,523 total reported compensation
  • CARLA D CALHOUN (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $155,225 total reported compensation
  • ALEXANDER DE MARKOFF (DIVISION DIRECTOR - FINANCE): $135,905 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To inspire youth, families, and communities to achieve self-reliance through innovative pathways and collaboration.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community initiatives - cset's community initiatives department manages a variety of community and economic development programs that promote community visioning, equip community leaders, and strengthen the residential, business, and familial assets of local communities. Programs provided by the department are designed and focused on reducing the causes of poverty through various strategies that unite residents, improve neighborhoods and train youth to be leaders through neighborhood cleanups and beautification projects, elderly assistance, nutrition, mental health resource sharing, parenting skills training, and housing education and assistance. The department also provides valuable resource information and referrals to other agencies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.61; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 16 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $32M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $10.3M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.