Pappa - Palo Alto Parents and Professionals for Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274089693
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
6504937282
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$62,208
Expenses
$63,119
Assets
$9,101
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFF SAUNDERS (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ERIN MCGAULEY HEBARD (BOARD MEMBER)
  • LINDA DEMEO (BOARD MEMBER)
  • MARGARET HEBARD (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 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

PAPPA provides quality art education to students in grades 1 through 8 in Palo Alto, California and the mid-peninsula area

What it reported doing in 2018

PAPPA artist teachers provided after school classes in ceramics, drawing, painting, outdoor sketch, cartooning, and sculpture with emphasis on process and product, for children in grades 1 through 5. Classes were in 3 sessions spanning 30 weeks. Classes met weekly for 1.5 hours at Palo Alto elementary school campuses. Class sizes are 8 to 15 students, providing ample opportunity for individual instruction and creativity. At the end of each multi-week session, the PAPPA board of directors honored participants with an art exhibit and reception for the students, their families, and friends. Approximately 400 students were served and welcomed. All students seeking scholarship assistance were admitted to all classes. PAPPA does not limit scholarship assistance to a specific number or percentage, but lets parents pay what they can afford, whether partial or nothing at all.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 60% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 11th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8% per year; rating input score 0; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -28.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $58K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2015 to 2018
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.