League of Women Voters of California Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680061260
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164427215
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Reported finances

Revenue
$443,902
Expenses
$522,772
Assets
$602,823
Liabilities
$87,141

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHANIE DOUTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL 12/2024)
  • CHRIS CARSON (PRESIDENT)
  • CAROL MOON GOLDBERG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GLORIA CHUN HOO (SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HELEN HUTCHISON (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS OF 01/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE DOUTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNTIL 12/2024): $168,680 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The league of women voters of California education fund conducts voter service and civic educational activities. It is a 501(c)3 corporation. We are a nonpartisan educational organization which builds participation in the democratic process, studies key community issues at all government levels in an unbiased, manner, and enables people to seek positive solutions to the public policy issues.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community education - the lwvcef has a broad based community education program designed to engage people with the critical issues facing our state. This includes voter education and engagement, local community educational opportunities on relevant community issues, statewide webinars on matters such as housing/climate/criminal justice, education about redistricting and the impact of people-powered fair maps.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 63%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.3%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -15.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 63% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $329K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.