Pacific Merchant Shipping Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
940739790
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5109875000
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,091,714
Expenses
$4,394,450
Assets
$4,455,789
Liabilities
$695,037

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Jacob (President)
  • Michael Moore (Vice President)
  • Michele Grubbs (Vice President)
  • Jacqueline Moore (Vice President)
  • Jennifer Cohen (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Jacob (President): $326,812 total reported compensation
  • Thomas Jelenic (VP\TREASURER): $281,238 total reported compensation
  • Michael Moore (Vice President): $275,872 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 further shipping activities

What it reported doing in 2024

PMSA coordinated education meetings for association members and other stakeholders on issues of state regulation of main engines, port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle on strategies for emission reductions, state assessments of public health risks, and development of emission reduction plans.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 45.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $327K · 34 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.