San Diego Refugee Tutoring

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821998118
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2018
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6146992105
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$416,873
Expenses
$345,799
Assets
$126,896
Liabilities
$473

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA PHILLIPS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BRIAN BECKER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELISSA PHILLIPS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $50,269 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW YOUNGER (MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $25,020 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN MCGRAW (ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $22,186 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide holistic academic support through one-on-one tutoring, enrichment activities, and mentorship to students of refugee background in the community of City Heights in Central San Diego.

What it reported doing in 2024

San Diego Refugee Tutoring is a one-to-one tutoring and mentoring program with about 350 volunteers that serves approximately 150 TK-12 refugee students twice-weekly throughout the school year. The tutoring and mentoring program provided over 6,000 hours of tutoring, 2.5 tons of food, 200 pairs of shoes, 160 backpacks, and 700 books to our students. San Diego Refugee Tutoring awarded $9,250 in college scholarships to eight students. SDRT also provided extracurricular experiences and field trips several times throughout the year to build community and allow students to be exposed to American culture. SDRT promotes educational support for parents and family members through family book giveaways, parent and family trainings each quarter and bi-weekly family communication.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.5%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.5% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $269K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.