North Valley Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680161455
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chico, CA, USA
Phone
5308911150
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,907,934
Expenses
$10,717,195
Assets
$43,921,396
Liabilities
$4,019,142

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEXA BENSON-VALAVANIS (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • DAVID LITTLE (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LOGAN TODD (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS/COO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXA BENSON-VALAVANIS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $220,462 total reported compensation
  • LOGAN TODD (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS/COO): $131,179 total reported compensation
  • KARSEN BRADLEY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $122,102 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To fuel healing and compassion for a better world. Through grantmaking, partnerships, financial and philanthropic services we help individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits maximize their impact on the local and global community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Disaster relief and recovery has become a major part of our foundation operations as a result of the 2019 camp fire, other local wildfires, the covid-19 pandemic, and droughts in the area. Assistance through grants to multiple nonprofit and government organizations as well as programs related to disaster recovery have been provided as a result of millions of dollars of donations to the foundation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 65% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97%; rating input score 97; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -20.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.1; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $220K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 124 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 121 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.