San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 953794690
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Santee, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6195932123
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $36,704
- Expenses
- $29,384
- Assets
- $32,675
- Liabilities
- $418
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
People named in this filing
- TERESA O'DONNELL (EXECUTIVE DI)
- LAURA SMITH (1ST VICE PRE)
- WAYNE BOOM (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the san diego turtle & tortoise society (sdtts) is to rescue, rehab and adopt out tortoises and turtles to society members and certain community members. The organization also provides education on the care of these animals.
What it reported doing in 2025
Tortoise fostering. Sdtts receives a large number of tortoises that have been relinquished to the organization. Foster homes are provided and supported - providing heat, water, electricity, houses and food. Sulcata fostering. Sdtts has several foster homes for sulcata tortoises, which provide heat, water, electricity, houses and food. Sulcatas are very large animals (50-150 lbs average) and create unique problems because of their size; thus they tend to be sheltered for longer times and are more difficult to place in homes. Water turtle fostering. Sdtts also supports foster homes for water turtles - paying for the heating, electricity, water (significant), water tubs, water pumps, and food. Water turtles - especially red eared sliders - are very prolific and the organization has taken in about 500-750 turtles each year, and adopts them out. Sdtts is working with fish and wildlife to stop pet stores from selling these, as there are too many to deal with.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 69% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Assets have declined or grown slowly and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62.4%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 19.9%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62.4% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $23K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.