Safe Space Pictures Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874646948
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Film, Video

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$759,992
Expenses
$856,926
Assets
$27,590
Liabilities
$19,771

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicole Shipley (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nicole Shipley (CEO): $127,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Organization facilitates the production and distribution of educational media to inform the public on matters of justice, humanity, environment, culture, civil liberties, and more.

What it reported doing in 2023

Support the production and release of educational media. This includes pre-production support, such as preparing budgets, vetting partners, and creating project plans. It includes production support, such as securing interviews with subjects, solving logistical issues, providing notes, and sharing institutional knowledge with filmmakers. It also includes release support, such as working with distributors, traveling to festivals, and building tools with the purpose of securing the widest possible exposure of the educational media. In 2023, the Organization worked on "One Point Five," "Battleground," "Been Here Stay Here," "Fairyland," The Last Guest of Holloway Hotel," as well as "Who Taught You?" These projects tackle a variety of important issues, including climate change, women's rights, civil rights, income inequality and education. The Organization successfully secured wide distribution for "Battleground" on the Starz television network. Other work included securing access to the UN's climate conferences, providing notes on edits, supporting "Fairyland" at its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival, and many other activities to support the production and distribution of these projects.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 81.3%; rating input score 81; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -12.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -15.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -122.6% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $793K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 3 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $108K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2022 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.