Pando Populus Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, our educational mission remains helping young people do amazing things to create a more sustainable Southland and world by providing the framework and resources needed to get their best ideas out of the classroom and put to work in local communities. We remain an educational organization with a civic engagement focus on sustainability. Our programs primarily target higher ed, with additional focus on K-12 and non-traditional learners. We work in collaboration with NGOs, community and faith based partners, government and public agency officials, and sustainability professionals. Our work remains highly consistent with our founding mission. Our web-based presence (www.pandopopulus.com) remains an active information and education hub; and we continue to have an active social media presence primarily over Facebook. Our newsletter, ROOTBALL, goes out to our community every few weeks with progress updates and involvement solicitations. Our YouTube channel archives our video content.Special Initiatives for 2024 included:- The fifth season of Pando Days, our flagship program bringing together colleges and universities from across the California Southland to help implement Los Angeles County's ambitious social and environmental goals, as articulated in its plan, OurCountyLA.LACounty.gov. Pando Days works at the intersection of higher ed and public agencies for community betterment. The 2024 program saw 21 higher education projects created in courses/studios/labs at institutions across the Southland - including Orange County. The program delivers on-the-ground community impact related to a range of diverse challenges. The program is produced in partnership with LA County's Chief Sustainability Office, in consultation with LA's Chief Sustainability Officer Strategic Taskforce.- Magenta House is our K-12 program on water and power conservation and efficiency for middle schools. The program reached more than 20 middle schools and eventually saw some 15 projects through to the Expo premier (Spring 2024). Magenta House offers extensive curricular resources, including content-related resources such as articles, videos, and special presentations and learning opportunities on water and power; as well as project-development resources such as a brainstorming workshop for project innovation, mentor, and advisor support, project presentation and pitch support and more.- CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) Strategic Taskforce, a network we have developed serving sustainability professionals from across Los Angeles County representing higher ed, public agencies, NGOs, and business. The Taskforce holds occasional meetings up to three times per year; its members advise on special projects, such as Pando Days (which Taskforce members helped to conceive). In 2024, the Taskforce continued to build on its ouput of useful publications focused on Southland sustainability, under the direction and authorship of noted regional sustainability planner Mark VanderSchaff. The publications are made available free of charge via the Pando website. - Pando's office remains based on the Encino campus of the Sisters of Social Service, a collaborating partner for community development and support.- The Pando Sustainability Awards, an annual showcase of the student- and faculty-based projects developed through Pando Days and any of Pando's project-based learning programs. The Pando Awards is an opportunity to see and honor the on-the-ground, community-based work that Pando teams have developed over the prior season, and to network with an extroardinary group of civic, business, NGO, philanthropic, and other leaders. 2024 marked the third Pando Awards event, the second such event to be held on the campus of Caltech in Pasadena.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
• Program expense ratio: 73.9%; rating input score 74
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 4.05; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 28.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings