Ruthless Kindness
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 842838142
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Sebastopol, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7072999781
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Protection Against Abuse
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $751,868
- Expenses
- $387,069
- Assets
- $549,386
- Liabilities
- $1,644
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sarah Reidenbach (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Sarah Reidenbach (CEO): $136,286 total reported compensation
- Kate Kuzminski (Secretary/Treas): $40,800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Ruthless Kindness provides multiple programs to remove barriers to safety for the most at-risk animals and people. This includes free mobile veterinary care and animal supplies/support for victims of domestic violence and others in crisis, free tele-support and human-service partner consultations, and free boarding and foster home placement for the pets of people in crisis. Additional programs involve investing in a future where less crisis support is needed. These programs include empathy education and the Human Animal Welfare Coalition.
What it reported doing in 2025
Ruthless Kindness advances its mission of keeping pets and people together during times of crisis by providing veterinary and logistical support to victims of domestic violence and other vulnerable individuals with animals. During the 2025 tax year, Ruthless Kindness received 1,205 calls from victim service partners and clients seeking assistance. In response to these needs, Ruthless Kindness provided 728 animals, including 466 dogs and 262 cats, with direct veterinary care at zero cost, delivering $242,060 in veterinary medicine value to individuals navigating dangerous or unstable circumstances. $58,853 in pet food and pet supply value was distributed to those requiring support during challenging times. Staff logged 3,621 miles in the RK mobile unit to meet clients in locations where they felt safe and to help them access care. For survivors whose only path to safety required entering a non-pet-friendly shelter, Ruthless Kindness provided 651 days and nights of animal boarding and foster care for their pets, eliminating a critical barrier that often prevents victims from leaving abusive situations. 33 free mobile veterinary clinics were held on-site at victim and human service agency locations serving at-risk individuals and their pets. 26 emergency mobile veterinary appointments provide urgent care for victims with pets needing to escape abuse with their animals. Partnerships with 30 victims and human service agencies were maintained, each actively referring clients with pets to Ruthless Kindness for support.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 77% 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.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 66
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 44.4%; rating input score 44
- Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 48.5%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 45.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 34.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 44.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 56.8% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 44.4% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $333K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $136K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.