Homeward Bound of Marin

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680011405
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Novato, CA, USA
Phone
4153823363
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Temporary Housing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$36,086,947
Expenses
$18,994,752
Assets
$78,456,248
Liabilities
$10,710,591

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Paul Fordham (CEO)
  • Mary Kay Sweeney (Co-CEO)
  • Jim Snipes (President)
  • Dianne Snedaker (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Paul Fordham (CEO): $205,603 total reported compensation
  • Mary Kay Sweeney (Co-CEO): $197,675 total reported compensation
  • Anna Hurtado (Dir Support Serv): $184,021 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Homeward Bound is the main provider of emergency shelter, supportive housing and services for people overcoming a crisis of homelessness in Marin County, California. Our mission of "opening doors to safety, dignity, hope, and independence," is underscored by a vision that "everyone deserves a place to call home." We offer shelter, housing and supportive housing through 19 residential programs, in addition to an award-winning culinary job training program and an array of successful mission-driven businesses.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adult Program Services - Homeward of Marin provides shelter and housing for people overcoming a crisis of homelessness in Marin through residential programs ranging from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing. In the 2024-25 year, Homeward Bound of Marin served 723 adults, including 50 veterans, and 63% transitioned to housing opportunities. There remained a strong demand for the innovative program for adults leaving hospital care without stable housing, resulting in 99 people receiving medical respite services, up almost 14% from the prior year. 224 adults received enhanced care plans with support from the State of Californias CalAIM initiative, which coordinates care more closely with medical providers while using blood pressure checks, nutrition check-ins, and other strategies. Homeward Bound continues to support vulnerable adults in shelter and supportive housing who face food insecurity by preparing and distributing over 16,000 meals a month to ensure their nutrition needs are met. In addition, Homeward Bound has achieved full occupancy for 50 new apartments opened last year. The 24-unit building for veterans and 26 apartments for people working in the community bring Marin County close to ending veteran homelessness and assist more adults to end homelessness in their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. 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: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.3%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $31.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 47.4%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.13; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.3% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $16.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 19 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $512K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.