Friends of the School of the Arts Fnd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943373066
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2007
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155087682
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$438,471
Expenses
$451,528
Assets
$402,840
Liabilities
$3,050

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Anne Yanow (President)
  • Jen Burke term 062025 (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Suzanne Dehne (Treasurer): $5,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Friends of Ruth Asawa School of the Arts FOSOTA is dedicated to championing arts education and arts-based learning at San Franciscos groundbreaking public arts high school and beyond. Our community of donors, volunteers, educators, students, alumni, artists, activists, and allies believe in the transformative power of art in the schools. Together we are mighty.

What it reported doing in 2024

CAPSTONE PROJECT AWARDS: Our application-based grants provide funds for student, teacher, department, and community projects. Among them are grants to seniors to help them realize their capstone projects-- in-depth explorations with real-world applications that integrate the academic, artistic, cultural, and personal experiences of an arts-based education. In FY 24-25, the organization provided $16k in student funding, in addition to providing $18k in funding for the capstone class advisor.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 75% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $531.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $441K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.