Monterey Bay Aquarium Support Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770569564
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Monterey, CA, USA
Phone
8316484800
Rating
49
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,229,292
Expenses
$652,364
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Monterey bay aquarium support services ("mbass") supported and benefited the monterey bay aquarium foundation ("the aquarium"), a California non-profit public benefit corporation.

What it reported doing in 2021

Mbass operated property for the supported irc section 501(c)(3) organization, monterey bay aquarium foundation ("the aquarium"). The property is key oceanfront property overlooking the national marine sanctuary and is being held for future use by the aquarium. In august 2022, the organization merged its operations and assets into the monterey bay aquarium foundation, a related tax-exempt organization and the sole member of the filing organization. At that time, the filing organization ceased to exist as a separate legal entity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.1%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 46.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.1% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $566K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $355K · 3 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $559K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2014 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.