El Pajaro Community Development Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942656048
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Watsonville, CA, USA
Phone
8317221224
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,860,363
Expenses
$3,693,914
Assets
$7,758,482
Liabilities
$3,288,389

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARMEN HERRERA-MANSIR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARMEN HERRERA-MANSIR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $155,544 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

El pajaro cdc's mission is to promote equal access to economic opportunities in santa cruz, monterey, and san benito counties. The purpose of the corporation is to develop and implement community economic programs. The corporation provides entrepreneurial opportunities, financial products, and services to support the creation of small businesses, self-employment, and jobs for low-income residents. The corporation shall also promote development and financing of housing for low-income residents.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ta & training: el pajaro cdc offers comprehensive business consulting and coaching services tailored to both aspiring and established entrepreneurs across the tri-county region. Our expert guidance includes a wide range of support, including access to funding, developing business plans, enhancing technological capabilities, strengthening online presence, facilitating business growth and expansion and general counseling. Our services are designed to be accessible and supportive for entrepreneurs of all levels of education and literacy. In addition, el pajaro cdc offers a variety of business-focused trainings from our comprehensive business planning course, empresari@, to single-session, intensive workshops in marketing and social media, business accounting, business ethics, customer service. Additionally, our annual "da del empresario" is a one-day business conference focused on the needs of business owners and start-ups, and the women in business leadership conference highlights strategies and success stories from women entrepreneurs and leaders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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 most voting board members are independent. Liabilities are high compared with assets and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.1; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.7% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $435K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 13 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.