Cougar Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770043456
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Clovis, CA, USA
Phone
5593271320
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Private Independent Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,813,589
Expenses
$1,618,103
Assets
$1,064,777
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MONICA LOPEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE RAMOS (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MONICA LOPEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • PAULETTE LOPEZ (SECRETARY)
  • AMANDA RING (TREASURER)

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

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

Overview

Mission

To enrich students' high school educational experience. This is accomplished by providing funds that finance activities and experiences for students such as club activities, community service activities, tutorial and peer counseling programs and travel expenses to compete on local, state, national, and international levels. These experiences represent the areas of band, choir, debate/forensics, drama, athletics, student organizations, and academic competitive teams or individual events.

What it reported doing in 2024

Travel and related expenses were provided for the benefit of more than 1,000 students in order to participate in various local, state, and national athletic and academic/scholastic/arts competitions. These travel expenses included, but are not limited to, transportation (air fares, car rentals, bus and van transportation, lodging, fuels, meals), tournament and competition entry fees and registrations.competition, registration, and other fees: $13,203tournament entry fees and expenses: $34,147travel and transportation expenses: $115,282

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 63% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 10.8%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.6% of revenue deployed · 99.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.