Don Buford Educational Sports Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810940929
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
Phone
8182570505
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,000
Expenses
$11,075
Assets
$23,925
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Don Buford (President)
  • Doug Takaragawa (Vice President)
  • Daryl Buford (Vice President Business & Legal Affairs)

People named in this filing

  • Don Buford (President)
  • Doug Takaragawa (Vice President)
  • Doug Allen (Secretary)

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

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

Overview

Mission

ESI provides k-12 Compton Unified School District students sports and after school programs for physical, social and educational development. At present, we instruct more than 3,000 students throughout the calendar school year. ESI furnishes all equipment and uniforms for student baseball and softball leagues.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Compton Unified School District contracted with ESI to create baseball & softball leagues and provide instruction for K-12 district students. ESI's program benefitted more than 3,000 students who participated throughout the calendar school year. ESI furnished equipment (gloves, bats, balls, etc.) and managed the sports leagues. No participating members or volunteers received any compensation. At the conclusion of the year, ESI hosted a 250-person student banquet for participants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41.5%; rating input score 42
  • Program expense ratio: 93.7%; rating input score 94

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.7%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.16; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -54.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 82.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 41.5% of revenue deployed · 93.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.