Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953389449
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Buellton, CA, USA
Phone
8056888224
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,011,649
Expenses
$981,741
Assets
$9,955,549
Liabilities
$123,099

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

People named in this filing

  • LISA BENNETT-LOPEZ (Secretary)
  • CARLA MEAD (Chairman)
  • MICHELINE HUGHES (CFO)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Serves the santa ynez valley and surrounding communities by providing housing, care and placement services for dogs and cats available for adoption, low fee spay and neuter services and promoting humane, compassionate and conscientious care of companion animals.

What it reported doing in 2024

The companion animal placement and community pet assistance program provides housing, veterinary care including spay/neuter surgeries and vaccines, micro-chipping and placement services for homeless dogs, puppies, cats and kittens while awaiting adoption. In addition, this program provides behavior consultation services to adopters and local pet owners to help resolve issues that might result in pets being relinquished for adoption, as well as community education on humane, compassionate and conscientious care of companion pets.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 91
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.3%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $344.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 51.2%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.14; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.3% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $889K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.