San Diego County Bar Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951732225
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6192310781
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,361,336
Expenses
$3,680,217
Assets
$21,213,593
Liabilities
$1,687,296

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CRYSTAL TRULL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • STACEY KARTCHNER (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELLE GASTIL (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • MELISSA JOHNSON (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CRYSTAL TRULL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $151,298 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE CHAVEZ (DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAMS): $127,024 total reported compensation
  • NIC HAGAN (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT): $120,907 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 county bar association is to be the representative of the san diego county legal profession, serving the prblic and the profession by enhancing the legal system and promoting justice, professional excellence, and respect for the law.

What it reported doing in 2024

Member services the association produces a variety of publications, resources, programs and events to support its almost 8,100 members and the legal community at large develops programs to promote public service, increase diversity and professionalism in the legal community and provides access to justice through its many public and community service programs. Members have access to a variety of 1) networking, relationship building and mentoring events 2) educational programs covering a broad spectrum of substantive legal issues, law practice management and marketing (both live and virtually via a livestreaming feature) 3) legal ethics resources including a legal ethics hotline 4) programs to encourage greater diversity in the bench and bar 5) practicebased sections and a forum that provides live and virtual communities for programming, connecting and questions and 6) committees that do project specific work for the bar and community at large. In addition, as the hub of the legal community, the association provides education and resources to members on issues that impact the legal community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 40
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.7%; rating input score 45
  • Program expense ratio: 45.9%; rating input score 46
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • 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: -9.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.76; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.7% of revenue deployed · 45.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 25 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • 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 45/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.