Nature Center Associates of Los Angeles County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
956129697
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Newhall, CA, USA
Phone
6263454841
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$183,198
Expenses
$134,113
Assets
$1,922,322
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA NICHOLSON (President)
  • SANDRA CATTELL (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • TERRY GINSBERG (Director)
  • BRIEANNE KELLY (Director)
  • KERRI PAYNE-LUE (Director)

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

To develop in children and adults an awareness and appreciation of the natural world

What it reported doing in 2025

Program services/ visitor amenities: including but not limited to: animal care & food $8,589; supplies and equipment for fundraising events, such as pcnca's annual craft fair $5,539; amenities for visitors to the nature centers $3,769; visitor events and programs including sdcnca's halloween nature crawl $2,119 and wildlife rehabilitation $2,349, vrnca's indigenous peoples day $2,200; pcnca's amphitheater events $3,413, walker cabin restoration and display $2,190 and community lecture events $2,932; and other program events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 57.3%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.8%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.33; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.1% of revenue deployed · 57.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $77K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.