Play Marin

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831737141
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Sausalito, CA, USA
Phone
4156865045
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Amateur Sports Competitions

Reported finances

Revenue
$582,274
Expenses
$641,187
Assets
$247,192
Liabilities
$25,108

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL AUSTIN JR (FOUNDER & CE): $119,791 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Play recognizes the need for stronger diversity and inclusion in marin county. We believe that the unique experiences of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds serves to enhance our larger community. We intentionally give kids of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to learn, grow and play together. Being able to understand and appreciate others who are different from you is vital to the advancement of our society. We see play as a vehicle to this end. We aim to counter the negative narrative that exist about certain communities within marin (namely marin city and the canal). Highlighting the talent, compassion and kindness that exist in those communities, affords other marin communities an opportunity to experience how amazing these communities are. We will achieve this by engaging families from the larger marin area with families from these communities. United through play, marin will move past tolerance and become a more inclusive place to live.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide extracurricular activities, including sports, for underserved populations in marin county, including a learning hub to help those children who needed extra support during online learning.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 54
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.8%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $156.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $633K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.