Filoli Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952996648
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Woodside, CA, USA
Phone
6503648300
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,915,287
Expenses
$21,235,242
Assets
$31,234,386
Liabilities
$3,784,153

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KARA NEWPORT (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KARA NEWPORT (PRESIDENT & CEO): $590,083 total reported compensation
  • TONY HUEY (CFO (THRU 12/30/24)): $332,383 total reported compensation
  • ALEXANDER FERNANDEZ (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $327,540 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Filoli is dedicated to connect our rich history with a vibrant future through beauty, nature and shared stories. We envision a time when all people honor nature, value unique experiences, and appreciate beauty in everyday life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public programs: filoli presents a variety of public programs to engage diverse audiences and provide opportunities for learning and engagement. In 2024 filoli offered public programs throughout the year, including, nightfall, holidays at filoli, summer nights, pride, teas, art walks, ballroom performances and stories in bloom.membership: in 2024 filoli welcomed a record number of member households, with almost 25,000 at year-end. Filoli offers memberships for seniors over 65 years at a discounted annual fee, and also provides free household memberships to all families who participate in filoli's youth programs. Filoli members enjoy free general admission and discounts on tickets to events like holidays at filoli.learning & engagement: filoli offers learning opportunities through a variety of programs, including a preschool program and college internship program. Filoli offers daily talks to visitors on a variety of topics that change throughout the year, including horticulture, collections, architecture and nature. Filoli also shares learning opportunities with the community through blogs and social media posts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 73% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.1%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.3%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.7% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 29 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $15.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $590K · 38 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.3M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.