Critters Without Litters Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271606167
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6618316000
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,060,258
- Expenses
- $2,045,122
- Assets
- $980,942
- Liabilities
- $180,450
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Vicky Thrasher (Executive Director)
- Larry Keller (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Sarah Steen (Medical Director): $186,712 total reported compensation
- Vicky Thrasher (Executive Director): $134,971 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Critters Without Litters provides high-volume, high-quality, subsidized companion animal sterilization. We seek to end the preventable euthanasia of healthy, adoptable pets in Kern County through strong alliances with the community, local businesses and nonprofit organizations to increase the number of cats and dogs that are spayed and neutered.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provides high-volume, high-quality, subsidized companion animal sterilization as well as trap-nueter-vaccinate-return TNVR services for city and county feral and free-roaming cates. Seek to end the preventable euthanasia of healthy, adoptable pets in Kern County, CA. The Organization also provides dog and cat vaccine and microchip services.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 86% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.4%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.7%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.4% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.