Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680478282
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Mendocino, CA, USA
Phone
7079376123
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$238,556
Expenses
$114,350
Assets
$723,346
Liabilities
$2,824

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tanya Smart (President)
  • Mikael Blaisdell (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jen Lewis (Outreach Mgr): $60,753 total reported compensation
  • Steve Nilson (Dir./Site Mgr.): $15,566 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Under contract with the State of California, Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association (PCLK) manages, interprets, and maintains the Point Cabrillo Light Station, a State Historic Park and site listed in the National Registry of Historic Places -- with over 50,000 visitors in 2024. PCLK, together with the USCG Auxiliary, operates and maintains the light, a navigational aid.

What it reported doing in 2024

Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association ("PCLK") provided free public access to the Light Station. It provides in-person group education about marine science, biology, geology, lighthouse & local history to area schools. It maintained the museums and aquarium, and continued restoring and maintaining historic buildings, and is preparing reconstruction of the historic barn.

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.

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: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.1%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.33; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 66.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 78% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $89K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $61K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.