Garden Club of Santa Barbara

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
956076112
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8054033846
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Garden Club, Horticultural Program

Reported finances

Revenue
$143,285
Expenses
$127,303
Assets
$201,868
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VICKI HOUGH (PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER KELLY (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • VICKI STRICKLAND (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • VICKI HOUGH (PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER KELLY (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARIA SCHMIDT (CORRESPONDING SECRETARY)

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

Founded in 1916, the garden club of santa barbara is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to encouraging the knowledge and enjoyment of gardening, the art of flower design, the protection of our environment and native plants, the preservation of the historic and horticultural richness of our community, and the active support of our civic projects. We actively support the planting and preservation of native plants through our support of school outreach programs and contributions to and collaborations with like-minded organizations such as our local botanic gardens and historic properties. Our community contributions and civic projects remain the core of our club. We continue to enrich the knowledge of our members through workshops and programs that keep us abreast of and involved in current trends in horticulture, conservation, and protection of our natural environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Contributions and support of various community beautification and horticultural projects

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 77% 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 68.9%; rating input score 69; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: 11.2%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.59; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 87.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $111K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.