Ralston White Retreat Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201550347
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Mill Valley, CA, USA
Phone
4154582102
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$286,191
Expenses
$280,711
Assets
$1,528,025
Liabilities
$570,388

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joshua Rafner (President)

People named in this filing

  • Andrew Allen (Director)
  • David Overmyer (Director)
  • Joshua Rafner (President)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Raltson White Retreat in Mill Valley, California. As trustee, the organization carries out the intent of the 1950 deed of trust from Ruth White Bowie regarding the preservation of the Retreat, which includes the following: 1) to maintain and restore the historically significant 1911 Willis Polk designed home that is the focus of the property and which houses the meeting place accommodations and food services; 2) to offer the retreat on a day-use and overnight-use basis to tax-exempt organizations in furtherance of their charitable, educational, religious and public benefit programs; 3) to conserve the 43 acre-site and protect the property from subdivision and development; and 4) to allow the general public to use the retreat and site for cultural, musical, arts and other community public benefit activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization's retreat center is operated by a team of staff with oversight by the board of directors through an operating committee. Site use reservations, scheduling, marketing, supply purchases management, building and property maintenance and personal hiring, supervision and training are handled by a site director who is supported by other full-time and part-time employees.A business-accounting manager is responsible for maintaining the books of account and records, monthly financial accounting and reporting, payroll processing, development of annual operating budget, site-use fee rates for board review, administration of site-use contracts and management and renewal of appropriate insurance coverages.Member of the operating committee, which include the president, treasurer, site director and business-accounting manager meet monthly and on an ad-hoc basis as needed, to review the retreat center operations and finances.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 1.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.44; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.9% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.6% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $254K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.