Links for Life

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931088003
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bakersfield, CA, USA
Phone
6613225601
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cancer

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$687,776
Expenses
$636,360
Assets
$1,368,822
Liabilities
$132,344

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARITZA JIMENEZ (PAST PRESIDENT/PUBLIC RELA)
  • BROOKE BAIRD (PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER HENRY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER HENRY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $90,812 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Links for life's mission is to provide an organization to benefit persons and families affected by breast cancer, to challenge each kern county woman to be aware of her breast health, promote support for those affected and to educate the general public about breast health.

What it reported doing in 2024

Link to resources assist with patients and families after diagnosis. There is a wig boutique for anyone facing hair loss due cancer treatment. There are bras and prosthesis for those who do not have coverage from their insurance. There are four support groups, the general support group for all breast cancer survivors and their family. There is the under 40ish and over 40ish support group, the grupo de esperanza, strong links, and husband hangout. Along with the support groups we have the grocery card program. This program supplies breast cancer survivors, while in active treatment, grocery cards assist the patients with necessities while in treatment. They meet with a dietitian and receive seasonal health recipes. The cards are supplied to the patient bimonthly or quarterly.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.1%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 61.6%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 7.5%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.15; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.1% of revenue deployed · 61.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $392K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.