Friends of Laguna Seca
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 812822543
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Salinas, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8312428201
- Rating
- 53
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,366,704
- Expenses
- $6,645,382
- Assets
- $10,969,174
- Liabilities
- $1,247,852
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROSS MERRILL (PRESIDENT)
- BRUCE CANEPA (VICE PRESIDENT)
- LAURI EBERHART (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN NARIGI (GENERAL MANAGER): $271,683 total reported compensation
- KEVIN ALLEN (CFO): $207,623 total reported compensation
- LAURI EBERHART (CEO): $194,382 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Restore and revitalize this iconic racing and recreation asset to create the next great world attraction to stand alongside other area economic drivers including: cannery row, the monterey bay aquarium, pebble beach, and carmel by the sea. Preserve the historic racing legacy, and create a path to success, ensuring that laguna seca remains a vital engine to the local economy and our volunteer-driven organizations.
What it reported doing in 2024
Seamlessly transition operations to fls and immediately begin the process of enhancing and improving services to visitors of lsra, in an abiding sense of duty to the community. We then begin to fulfill the $50 million dollar commitment through revenues derived from donations, net operating income, sponsorships and meaningful new partnerships with motorsports, technology, and local industries.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 61% 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
MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and revenue comfortably covers expenses. 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: 49
- Transparency & Controls: 44
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 27.7%; rating input score 28
- Program expense ratio: 69.3%; rating input score 69
- Fundraising efficiency: $328.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 59.4%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 45.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 45.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 27.7% of revenue deployed · 69.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $272K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $936K reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 28/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.