Open California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460763322
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164447665
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$463,441
Expenses
$517,576
Assets
$234,965
Liabilities
$4,943

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MOLLY DUGAN (President)

People named in this filing

  • TERI HOLOMAN (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROB GUNNISON (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROB STUTZMAN (BOARD MEMBER)

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

Open Californias Mission is to inform, enlighten and educate Californians about public policy and state governance, and to provide a platform for engagement with public officials, advocates and political interests.

What it reported doing in 2024

Produced five public policy conferences addressing criminal justice policy, journalism, ballot initiatives, health care and the results of the 2024 election. Over 1000 people attended the conferences in person or via zoom. Video and podcasts of each event were made available at capitolweekly.net and other sites. Maintained and produced materials for capitolweekly. Net, an online publication which covers elections, proposed changes to state law, decisions about infrastructure and regulations, politics and personalities, and policies related to education, health care, public safety, the environment and more. Capitolweekly. Net had nearly 650,000 pageviews in 2024.produced and distributed the roundup newsletter, which is distributed via email five days per week to approximately 5,200 subscribers. The roundup collects and summarizes news stories related to California public policy.produced video oral histories of leona egeland rice, robert hertzberg, don novey, richard polanco & garry south. These films are available for free public viewing at the capitol weekly website.produced more than 50 episodes of the capitol weekly podcast, which were played over 22,500 times. Produced and distributed 10,000 copies of a special print issue of capitol weekly. Produced and distributed 1500 copies of the 2024 top 100 book, which profiles californians who help determine public policy but are not in elected office.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.9% of revenue deployed · 69.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $361K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.