Sandplay Therapists of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411656585
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Phone
9258202109
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$170,820
Expenses
$218,431
Assets
$860,492
Liabilities
$18,041

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID DERMOTT (President)
  • JACQUELYN KELLEY (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOYCE CUNNINGHAM (JOURNAL EDITOR): $14,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promote education, training and research in sandplay therapy which is a psychotherapeutic tool used with children and adults.

What it reported doing in 2025

Journal of sandplay therapy: this is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal for clinicians interested in the use of sandplay therapy with children and adults. The journal presents theoretical articles, research articles, clinical articles, and analytic/ psychoanalytic perspectives in the fields of clinical psychology.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 80% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.2%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 51.3%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -27.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.94; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.2% of revenue deployed · 51.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $112K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $14K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.