Help of Ojai Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 952872549
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ojai, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8056465122
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Transportation Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,773,436
- Expenses
- $1,673,046
- Assets
- $4,675,643
- Liabilities
- $362,970
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAYN WALTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- DEIRDRE DALY (President)
- DON REED (Vice President)
- BILL NORRIS (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- JAYN WALTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $97,017 total reported compensation
- MEGAN TELFER (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND VOLUNTE): $96,960 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Help of Ojai's (the Organization) mission is to combine community and individual resources to respond to the identified, unmet basic human needs of the Ojai Valley residents. The Organization is dedicated to assisting Ojai Valley citizens through various programs, including Home Delivered Meals, hot noon congregate meal, various supportive services and local travel. In addition, the Organization runs the local homeless service center and low-income assistance program. Help of Ojai's primary goal is to meet basic needs with 65% of its efforts being targeted at providing food, shelter and access to medical care. On the other hand, 20%, 11% and 4% of Help of Ojai's efforts are targeted at providing case management, support services and activities-based programs, respectively.
What it reported doing in 2024
VALLEY OUTREACH The program offers resource and referral services to housed low-income residents of the Ojai Valley. In 2024/2025, VO provided 3,648 brown bag lunches for clients who are unsheltered, provided 400 boxes to families who are food insecure, and assisted 121 families in receiving subsidized energy, such as gas and electric services. In 2024/2025, Valley Outreach served around 3,045 clients.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 66% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.9%; rating input score 65
- Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 39.7%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.79; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.9% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $97K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.