Horizons Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942686530
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4153982333
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonprofit Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,389,233
Expenses
$12,353,681
Assets
$70,643,289
Liabilities
$1,793,234

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Roger Doughty (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Roger Doughty (President): $320,960 total reported compensation
  • Francisco Buchting (VP of Grants, Programs & S): $203,442 total reported compensation
  • Henry Pacheco (Director of Philanthropic): $148,016 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

For 45 years, Horizons' mission has been to support nonprofits serving and advocating for the LGBTQ community through grantmaking and programs; to increase philanthropic giving to LGBTQ causes; and to secure the community's long-term future for generations to come through legacy gifts from LGBTQ people across the community. While much of Horizons' grantmaking and programs focus on our San Francisco Bay Area home, multiple Horizons' initiatives and funds drive impact on LGBTQ issues of national and international concern.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grantmaking: Horizons Foundation provided direct financial support to nonprofit organizations through 1,561 grants to 792 organizations totaling $8,494,628 in 2025. Grants addressed multiple issues and populations related to the LGBTQ community, including health, HIV/AIDS, youth, arts, elders, communities of color, transgender rights, community building, and civil and human rights in the San Francisco Bay Area, other parts of the United States, and the world. In keeping with Horizons' values, grants supported both smaller, more grassroots organizations that few foundations will fund as well as more established LGBTQ institutions. Millions of additional grant dollars were generated from donor-advised, field-of-interest, and scholarship funds, as well as a groundbreaking multi-year initiative to support nonprofits focused on transgender people of color. Grants ranged from $100 to $200,000 and provided LGBTQ and allied nonprofits with both operating support and project support. In addition, Horizons supported a continuing opportunity for executive directors of LGBTQ organizations to receive on-going support in their challenging roles.

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 77% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90.2%; rating input score 90; 20th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 19.7%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.72; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $321K · 25 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 226 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 217 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.