Rose Bowl Aquatics Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953994788
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pasadena, CA, USA
Phone
6265640330
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,488,744
Expenses
$10,361,156
Assets
$7,065,898
Liabilities
$1,193,138

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MELANIE SAUER (Exec Dir/CFO): $200,300 total reported compensation
  • ARVIN VARMA (COO): $174,000 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW NGUYEN (SWIM COACH): $171,922 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 Rose Bowl Aquatics Center (the RBAC or Center) is a non-profit public benefit corporation formed under the non-profit corporation law of the State of California. In partnership with the City of Pasadena, the facility was constructed in 1990 and is located in the central part of the Arroyo Seco, only a few steps away from the world-famous Rose Bowl Stadium.The mission statement of the RBAC is to help everyone achieve their personal best by providing the finest aquatic educational, competitive, summer camp, and other recreational programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The RBAC is a world-class aquatics facility dedicated to helping all members of our diverse communities invest in their health and wellness by providing exemplary aquatic educational, competitive, therapeutic, and recreational programs. The RBACs facilities include two Olympic-sized pools, a therapy pool, a weight room, a conference room, locker rooms, a caf, and an aquatics merchandise shop. It hosts world-class swim, dive, and water polo teams and a wide variety of programs, including water aerobics, warm water exercise, lap swimming, learn-to-swim lessons, and land-based fitness classes such as yoga.The RBAC also provides need-based financial assistance to residents of Pasadena and surrounding communities. Participants receive up to 75% of the listed cost of programs such as swim lessons, adaptive swim lessons, lap swimming, water and dryland fitness classes, and our competitive teams (swim, masters swim, water polo, and diving). The RBAC endeavors to further fulfill its public benefit responsibilities through our Water Safety Program. This program provides every third-grade student in Pasadena Unified School District, including students with special needs, access to water safety instruction (i.e., swim lessons). Students attend 15 swim lessons and receive free swimsuits, water safety workbooks, and towel service.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 25 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.