Our City Forest
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 770371911
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Jose, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4089987337
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Forest Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,636,712
- Expenses
- $2,358,042
- Assets
- $2,906,046
- Liabilities
- $111,865
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RHONDA BERRY (PRESIDENT/CEO AND SECRETARY)
Highest reported compensation
- RHONDA BERRY (PRESIDENT/CEO AND SECRETARY): $140,922 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 cultivate a greener, healthier urban environment and a renewed sense of community by involving silicon valley residents in the understanding, planting, and care of the urban forest.
What it reported doing in 2024
Tree planting and care program: our city forest provides site assessments, training, trees, stakes, planting assistance and post-planting inspections for the general public. Our city forest also provides volunteering and educational opportunities to the general public.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 84% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 87
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 91.1%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $70.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.6%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 91.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 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: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.