Council of Community Housing Organizations

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943102891
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
San Francisco, CA, US
Phone
4158828901
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$285,260
Expenses
$330,096
Assets
$47,627
Liabilities
$2,300

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Karoleen Feng (President)
  • Gina Dacus (Vice President)
  • Shannon Way (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • John Avalos (Executive Dir.): $122,834 total reported compensation
  • Charlie Sciammas (Policy Director): $107,834 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We advocate for the development and funding of permanently affordable, community-controlled housing in San Francisco through strong tenant protections, non-speculative ownership, and empowerment of low-income and working class communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO) has played a vital role in building internal coalition strength to shape local and regional housing policy rooted in community input. Through ongoing coordination among our member groups and regional partners, CCHO has advanced a shared agenda focused on the production, preservation, and protection of affordable housing. Within our coalition, we have built consensus around key priorities such as operating and maintenance funding for affordable housing, operating subsidies for providers serving extremely low-income households, and the preservation of community arts programs within publicly funded housing. Our collective work has led to the development and passage of two major ballot measures expanding local and regional funding for affordable housing production and preservation. We have also engaged in strategic lobbying efforts to secure the adoption of critical policies that protect affordable housing finance and resources. Each year, our Affordable Housing Month events celebrate the successes and shine a light on the ongoing challenges of building and sustaining supportive housing for San Franciscans most in need. At the close of 2024, CCHO convened a strategic retreat to set broad goals for 2024 and 2025, reaffirming our commitment to coalition building and deep community engagement as we develop a comprehensive agenda to address housing insecurity across San Francisco.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 69.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 71.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $235K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $123K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.