Rancho Obi-wan Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453771886
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Petaluma, CA, USA
Phone
7078491138
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$539,616
Expenses
$367,058
Assets
$343,829
Liabilities
$480,822

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNE NEUMANN (PRESIDENT/CE)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNE NEUMANN (PRESIDENT/CE): $38,368 total reported compensation
  • STEPHEN J SANSWEET (EXECUTIVE CH): $22,172 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Rancho obi-wan is a cultural institution whose purpose is to inspire and serve the world through the collection, preservation, exhibition and interpretation of star wars memorabilia and artifacts. Using these objects we provide meaningful educational, aesthetic, intellectual and cultural experiences for a wide array of audiences.

What it reported doing in 2025

Rancho obi-wan is a publicly supported, nonprofit museum in petaluma, California that houses the worlds largest star wars memorabilia collection, as certified by guinness world records in 2014. Our mission is to serve the world through the collection, conservation, exhibition and interpretation of star wars memorabilia and artifacts, using the collection to provide meaningful educational, aesthetic, intellectual and cultural experiences for a wide array of audiences and to carry out other charitable and educational activities associated with this goal.our museum program includes giving docent-led tours. Paid tours are scheduled in advance from our website and are conducted mostly on saturdays or other days as docents are available. Free tours for school groups are offered and donations of tours to help other charities fundraise are managed on a case-by-case basis. During tours docents discuss the history of particular items, the cultural impact of star wars, and ways to participate in various star wars related communities. They also explore the history and techniques of movie-making, describe different styles of art and art traditions of different countries, and offer suggestions for incorporating the joy and positivity of their fandom in their own lives and spreading those feelings of good will to others.rancho obi-wan also creates small inspirational traveling exhibits from the collection to be presented at various venues for different lengths of time.in october, 2024 rancho obi-wan announced our intention to merge with three other large collections and build a new, large public museum called the saga museum of star wars memorabilia. Fundraising for this initiative has commenced and will be a continuing project until the completion of the new museum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 59.8%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 32%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.4; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 41% of revenue deployed · 59.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $220K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.