Foundation for San Mateo County Libraries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831472500
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
San Mateo, CA, USA
Phone
6502755806
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$799,222
Expenses
$98,098
Assets
$1,305,749
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • CAITI BUSCH (CHAIR)
  • SONIA ESCOBAR (TREASURER)
  • IRENE CHEN (BOARD OF TRUSTEE)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Provide annual resources to support the san mateo county libraries' goals and initiatives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Library support: the foundation is creating an annual support program that supports systemwide initiatives of the san mateo county libraries. San mateo county libraries serves the diverse communities of atherton, belmont, brisbane, east palo alto, foster city, half moon bay, millbrae, pacifica, portola valley, san carlos, woodside, and the unincorporated areas of san mateo county the foundation will fund innovative programs and services of the library system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 30
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 94
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 9.5%; rating input score 10
  • Program expense ratio: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 87.7%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.31; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.9% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 9.5% of revenue deployed · 72.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $71K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.