Policy & Innovation Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 871401636
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- San Diego, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6192352300
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,011,407
- Expenses
- $5,706,488
- Assets
- $11,141,664
- Liabilities
- $10,700,935
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SUSAN L GUINN (CEO, PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- SUSAN L GUINN (CEO, PRESIDENT): $774,120 total reported compensation
- MARK STUART (DIRECTOR): $737,408 total reported compensation
- JAMES HOWELL (TREASURER): $524,026 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The policy & innovation center's (pic) mission is to unlock the region's potential by cultivating and building partnerships. Our niche is to address intractable issues that can only be solved with cross-sector, multi-jurisdictional collaborations. Pic develops, tests, and implements world-class research and policy-driven solutions to support climate resilience, critical infrastructure, affordable housing, quality jobs, and building community wealth for disinvested communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization has been:(1) bringing together and fostering collaboration and consensus among local governmental bodies, community leaders, researchers, subject matter experts, and stakeholders from across the region;(2) collecting and analyzing data and conducting rigorous original research to help effectively address the region's public infrastructure, health, housing, environmental and other community needs, and making the results publicly available;(3) developing and helping implement innovative strategies and solutions based on that data research;(4) helping local governmental bodies increase federal grant funding and identify and obtain other funding resources to address public needs across the region; and(5) sharing the research, results, policies and innovations nationally, to benefit the public in other regions of the u.s.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most filed governance safeguards are in place. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 51
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 50.4%; rating input score 50
- Program expense ratio: 53.1%; rating input score 53
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- 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: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 70%; rating input score 70; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.1%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.96; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 39% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 45.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 38.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 50.4% of revenue deployed · 53.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $774K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $430K reported
- Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.