Japanese American Citizens League Sonoma County Chapter

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
946103628
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Sebastopol, CA, USA
Phone
7078613487
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,049
Expenses
$46,474
Assets
$1,775,895
Liabilities
$4,800

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cecelia Shimizu (President)

People named in this filing

  • Cecelia Shimizu (President)
  • Flora Lee Ganzier (Director)
  • Andrew LeMarQuand (Parliamentarian)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Sonoma County Chapter of the Jaapanese American Citizens League is committed to the protection and advancement of civil rights and community development for Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry.

What it reported doing in 2025

Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) still offer scholarships to graduating high school seniors, upper class college students, medical scholarships for post-graduate studies and a contining education grants for any members who wants to take a class. JACL supports various events like Sonoma Co. Matsuri Festival and exhibits at local museums as well as charitable donatons to assist people in the community and other areas.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.6%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 96.6%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 39.7%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 38.21; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.6% of revenue deployed · 96.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $45K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.