Northern California Board of Rabbis
Legal name: Northern California Board of Rabbis C/o Jill Zimmerman
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943248658
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Oakland, CA, United States
- Phone
- 4085506525
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $168,867
- Expenses
- $158,451
- Assets
- $58,557
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RABBI NAT EZRAY (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- RABBI GREG WOLFE (PRESIDENT)
- RABBI JILL ZIMMERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- RABBI NAT EZRAY (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- RABBI GREG WOLFE (PRESIDENT)
- RABBI ALLAN BERKOWITZ (MEMBER AT LARGE)
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
Just as Northern California’s landscape stretches from vibrant cities to quiet valleys, our rabbinic community reflects the diversity of every neighborhood we call home—gathering under one welcoming tent to nurture Jewish life, including educators, pulpit rabbis, organizational leaders, chaplains, communal professionals, and spiritual directors.
What it reported doing in 2024
Rabbis, strengthened by community support and working together, can be a bridge to all segments within our society, fostering better understanding and compassion for all peoples. The program service accomplishments include the following: (1) articulating moral and religious concerns and to provide a strong rabbinic voice in matters affecting jewish and general communities; (2) strengthening ties between rabbis, the synagogues, and the federation, and to work cooperatively to advance common goals; (3) to strengthen and expand the community chaplaincy program throughout the federation area. To endorse and coordinate personnel and programs in northern California state mental institutions and prisons and san francisco prisions; (4) to participate in interfaith clergy activities invloving religious and social justice concerns; (5) to sponsor and/or inspire meaningful community events designed to heighten jewish consciousness and participation in jewish life; (6) to establish programs for members of the board of rabbis that will heighten awareness of important issues and contribute toward religious and intellectual enhancement and; (7) to serve as a resource for rabbis who encounter personal, congregational, or other problems they want to share with another rabbi.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% 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 - 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: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 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: 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: 6.2%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $129K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.