Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912125234
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Clara, CA, USA
Phone
4086152936
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$273,659
Expenses
$296,654
Assets
$477,411
Liabilities
$5,663

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kathy Betts (President)
  • Nancy Toledo (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JoAnn Davis (Executive Dir.): $108,376 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends is a nonprofit organization formed to enrich the local community by providing the Santa Clara City Library with funding and advocacy to enhance its facilities, programs, and services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Montague Park: In 2024, Santa Clara City Library staff saw a pressing need to reach out to an underserved community living in Northern Santa Clara, specifically on Lafayette and Haig streets. This marginalized pocket of our city lacks access to grocery stores, parking, and recreational facilities. The average income in this area is much lower than the poverty level for Santa Clara County. The Library intended to connect this population with community partners and provide access to free and life-altering resources at events hosted at Montague Park, which is only a ten-minute walk from the targeted population.With funding from the California State Librarys LSTA Inspiration grant, we hosted five community events that provided opportunities for academic, cultural, nutritional and STEAM education. These events were co-designed directly by the community through community meetings, surveys, and conversations. This project, which ran from October of 2023 through July of 2024, introduced residents to a new communal space and created new bridges to the Library, Parks and Recreation, and our community partners.Summer Adventure: Our Summer reading program for all ages was a big success. We served over 9,000 kids, teens and adults June August. About 3,100 individuals registered to participate in the program which encourages reading and outdoor activities. Another 6,000 community members attended family-friendly concerts, presentations and other performances.Lunch at the Library: This program brought the Bookmobile and 12 programs and performances to seven school locations. Over 1,600 students attended programs including: puppet shows, magic shows, story times and science shows.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.1%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 56.9%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.9% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6.9% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.1% of revenue deployed · 56.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $169K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $108K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.