Fremont Candle Lighters

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237149766
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Fremont, CA, USA
Phone
5107960595
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$71,085
Expenses
$83,549
Assets
$201,937
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • S Annette Bergendahl (President)
  • Mary Lang (2nd Vice President (Pubilicty))
  • Gloria Gutierrez (3rd Vice President (Sponsors))

People named in this filing

  • S Annette Bergendahl (President)
  • Caroline Siebert (1st Vice Presdient)
  • Lisa Glover (Assistant Site)

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

Candle Lighters is a non-profit organization of nearly 100 volunteers dedicated to raising funds for non-profit groups and community-based projects in the Tri-City Community(Fremont, Newark & Union City). We consider ourselves a service and a social organization.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Fremont Candle Lighters host an annual Halloween ghost house. Open to the public, the house is based on a historical 19th century carriage house and is an evolving family-oriented event. Using a different theme each year, organization members and volunteers transform the house into an entertainment arena complete with games, photo booths and other entertainment activities. The event raises funds for a number of non-profit groups and community service projects in the tri-city area of Fremont, Newark and Union City.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 85% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 83% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.2%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: -17.5%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.42; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 71.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 14 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $83K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.