Santa Cruz Hillel
Legal name: Santa Cruz Hillel Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 770427628
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Santa Cruz, CA, United States
- Phone
- 831-426-3332
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $341,769
- Expenses
- $318,327
- Assets
- $104,838
- Liabilities
- $8,921
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Becka Ross (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Becka Ross (Executive Director): $55,550 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
| Picture | Santa Cruz Hillel is a home away from home for Jewish students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Cabrillo College and CSU Monterey Bay. We seek to provide a vibrant and welcoming community, regardless of knowledge or background. Hillel's mission is to spark unexpected connections and cultivate shared experiences that inspire students to explore how their own identity connects with Jewish values, community, and Israel. We envision a diverse, interconnected, and vibrant Jewish community and world, enriched by Santa Cruz Hillel students and alumni. |.
What it reported doing in 2024
Supported hundreds of students at college campuses in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County through scheduled programs, special events, learning opportunities, and one-on-one engagement meetings. Provided leadership training for students to build their hard and soft skills needed for programming and project management.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 37
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 38.7%; rating input score 39
- Program expense ratio: 41.1%; rating input score 41
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th 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: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.5%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 38.7% of revenue deployed · 41.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $131K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.