Outward Bound California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264206241
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4159336222
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,446,457
Expenses
$4,317,524
Assets
$4,799,275
Liabilities
$579,870

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHEN STREUFERT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN STREUFERT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $223,938 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 purpose of this corporation is to help people of all ages and walks of life build personal strengths needed to succeed in life, through operating challenging experiential learning courses and programs in school, urban and wilderness venues that inspire self-discovery and character development. The main emphasis of these programs is to build self confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, and a sense of concern for others, service to the community and care for the environment.

What it reported doing in 2025

Outward bound California provided wilderness and urban experiential education programs for 3950 students in 2025, operating 169 courses over the winter, spring, summer, and fall and working with over 84 partner organizations to deliver 8589 student program days.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.4% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $224K · 20 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $119K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.