East Bay Spca

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941322202
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5105690702
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,767,883
Expenses
$13,078,292
Assets
$46,690,920
Liabilities
$4,504,339

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALLISON LINDQUIST (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALLISON LINDQUIST (PRESIDENT/CEO): $398,424 total reported compensation
  • GWEN GADD (VETERINARIAN): $223,608 total reported compensation
  • JULIE HENDERSON (V.P. PHILANTHROPY): $213,007 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The east bay spca founded in 1874, is proud to be one of the oldest shelters in the country and one of the most innovative in our region. Our mission is to transform the lives of cats and dogs by enriching the human-animal bond through respected and accessible expertise.

What it reported doing in 2025

We believe that protecting the human-animal bond requires preventive strategies that supports pets and their owners so we offer a variety of accessible education and outreach programs.humane advocacy: the first program of its kind in the us, our humane advocacy program employs social workers to match qualifying families and their companion animals with local services including monthly pet food pantries, subsidized veterinary care, and discounted spay/neuter and vaccinations. We provide wrap around case management services and help refer clients to human social service providers to assist in stabilizing their situations. In 2019, a hold for home program was added to provide temporary shelter to pets of families in crisis. The goal is to keep pets and their people together in healthy, happy homes and avoid people needing to surrender their beloved animals. Partnering with our community, we provided more than 380 discounted spay/neuter surgeries, and $450,000 in financial assistance to almost 850 pets in need and 55,203 lbs. Of free pet food.behavior & training: behavior issues are a primary reason that families surrender a pet to shelters and are a barrier to adopting pets to new homes. Helping behaviorally challenged pets and their people is a top priority at east bay spca. Our skilled behavior & training staff work with shelter animals to help them feel comfortable in their shelter home and provide guidance to their new family after adoption. We provide a wealth of behavior and training resources for our community: a free behavior hotline to speak with trained staff; an online library of handouts and seminars; and a full range of in-person group and one-on-one training classes. In 2025, 686 owned pets received training through our free behavior helpline, public dog training classes, and private training sessions. 531 shelter dogs and cats benefited from our behavior modification programs to help them get adopted. Volunteers: in 2025, over 800 volunteers gave over 35,800 hours of support - feeding shelter animals, cleaning kennels, photography, walking dogs, socializing cats and providing community outreach to name just a few roles. We are very grateful to our community for this vital support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th 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: 11.4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.57; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.2% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $398K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.