San Diego Archaeological Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 330574573
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Escondido, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7602910370
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Humanities Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $595,830
- Expenses
- $497,703
- Assets
- $900,846
- Liabilities
- $33,399
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRIAN WILLIAMS (President)
- BENNAE CALAC (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- STEPHANIE SANDOVAL (Trustee / E.D.): $72,292 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 mission of the san diego archaeological center is to promote the importance of cultural resources through education and preserve them in partnership with tribal and other communities.there are over 30,000 archaeological sites in san diego county. In the face of expanding development, these cultural resources are at risk of destruction. When these irreplaceable sites and artifacts are destroyed, it creates a permanent gap in our understanding of san diegos past. The center preserves over 2 million of these artifacts and associated documents across 1,430 archaeological collections. Education is a cornerstone of the centers work. Museum exhibits include hallmarks of the holocene, an interactive exhibit featuring archaeological sites around the world, and fact or fiction: hollywood, hoaxes, and hearsay, which investigates the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) for commonly held archaeological beliefs. Adult programs involve lectures on local and international archaeological research
What it reported doing in 2024
During FY 24-25, the Center served 8,485 people in 411 educational and community programs. There were over 2,007 visitors to the museum, and 46 active volunteers and interns donated 3,960 hours in collections, library, GIS, education, and administrative departments. The Center currently curates 1,430 archaeological collections.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 16.5%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.81; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.5%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $395K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.