Leon a & Esther F Blum Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942819074
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Mateo, CA, USA
Phone
6503534503
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,171,390
Expenses
$640,702
Assets
$12,881,714
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID G FINKELSTEIN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • DAVID FAIGMAN (TRUSTEE AND CFO)
  • MARK YATES (TRUSTEE)
  • JOHANNA KALB (TRUSTEE AND SECRETARY)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The blum foundation is a nonprofit benefit corporation organized to encourage and promote education through voluntary grants, scholarships, or student loans which aid worthy students registered at the three accredited law schools located within the city and county of san francisco.

What it reported doing in 2024

The sole purpose of the foundation is to disburse the available interest from the estate of leon a. Blum, deceased, among the following three law schools located within the city and county of san francisco on an annual basis: university of san francisco law schoolgolden gate university school of lawuc law san franciscothe amount of funds involved are based upon the discretionary judgment of the trustees.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 91
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 45.3%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.11; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -23.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $570K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.