Novellus Group

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
394995341
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Davis, CA, USA
Phone
4158603599
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$346,949
Expenses
$347,368
Assets
$28,467
Liabilities
$28,886

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Marianne Justus (Executive Dir.): $120,576 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization is committed to improving systems through organizational development, coaching, and enhanced communications. Its mission is to partner with diverse organizations, providing them with organization-development strategies and dynamic communication tools to foster systems that are aligned for greater coherence and efficiency. Through collaboration, education, and ongoing support, The Novellus Group works to ensure that every organization it serves is not only more effective but also a beacon of equality and positive change in the global community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Services began in the spring of 2025 utilizing a lean operational model consisting of five contract professionals and one full-time employee. This structure allowed us to maintain flexibility while delivering high-quality work during our inaugural year. In fall 2025, we added three additional subcontractors, totaling eight subcontractors and one full-time employee. We also replaced our project manager due to performance issues.In April 2025, Novellus Group entered into a multi-year agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Cannabis Program to fulfill an approximately $2 million engagement focused on systems improvement, research, and strategic communications support. This contract marked the formal launch of our operational work and established a strong foundation for long-term impact.In August 2025, our clients at the CDFW approached us about amending our grant agreement to include an additional task: Task 7 Cannabis Remediation on Tribal Lands Research. This initiative involves a research partnership with a scholar at Northeastern University to explore the relationship between tribal entities and cannabis policy, governance, and economic development. On October 6, 2025, The grant amendment was executed, increasing the original grant budget from $2,084,384 to $3,027,845. This work deepens the research dimension of our engagement and reflects our commitment to equity-informed, evidence-based systems analysis. It also expands our institutional relationships within academic and policy communities. Through December 2025, Novellus generated total billings of approximately $450,000, representing our first fiscal year in operation. This revenue reflects disciplined execution aligned with contractual milestones and demonstrates early financial traction within the framework of the broader engagement.We successfully completed the first two agreed-upon tasks outlined in the engagement letter, representing approximately 10% of the total contract scope. Most notably, we delivered: Task 3: Subtask 3.1: Comprehensive Needs AssessmentTask 3: Subtask 3.2: Report of RecommendationsThese deliverables reflect extensive stakeholder engagement, research synthesis, and strategic analysis. They now serve as the blueprint guiding implementation and communications efforts in subsequent phases of the contract.Looking ahead, projected billings for 2026 are estimated at approximately $750,000 representing roughly 25% of the remaining contract value. This anticipated growth reflects the transition into higher-volume implementation and communications phases (Tasks 4 and 5).

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.01; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $274K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.