Saje

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931226092
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2137459961
Rating
91
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health Support Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,379,452
Expenses
$3,903,543
Assets
$4,174,345
Liabilities
$215,698

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NONA RANDOIS (PRESIDENT)
  • VICTORIA AVERY-BROWDER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CYNTHIA STRATHMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CYNTHIA STRATHMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $125,651 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH HAMILTON (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT): $122,859 total reported compensation
  • NORMA IBARRA (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $120,085 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Saje builds community leadership and power for economic justice.

What it reported doing in 2024

Tenant rights: tenant protections and anti-eviction: our stay housed la team reached 18,524 tenants with information on their rights, and helped 7,282 navigate evictions, protecting low-income tenants from illegal rent hikes, harassment, and evictions. Saje educated tenants on policy and governance, and educated county officials on renter issues. La county went on to establish a program to guarantee full-scope legal representation for renters facing eviction in unincorporated l.a. County. As a founding member of the keep la housed coalition, we educated city officials and staff on effective ways to strengthen l.a.'s tenant anti harassment ordinance, which prohibits landlords from harassing tenants by removing services, withholding repairs, or refusing to accept rent.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.1%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.1% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.