Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237087774
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8056876065
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,875,035
Expenses
$10,320,320
Assets
$88,807,931
Liabilities
$8,154,424

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELINDA CABRERA (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELINDA CABRERA (CEO): $260,635 total reported compensation
  • JAMES HUTCHINSON (CFO): $181,766 total reported compensation
  • TIM DOUGHERTY (CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER): $165,203 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara makes college possible for local students by providing scholarships and advisory support.

What it reported doing in 2024

The scholarship foundation of santa barbara serves more than 20,000 individuals each year through financial aid workshops and individual appointments. Specifically, scholarship foundation program advisors assist students with scholarship applications, help decipher complex federal and state financial aid forms, and explain financial aid award letters and loan programs, all free of charge. Office financial aid workshops and presentations take place at schools throughout santa barbara county. Financial aid advising appointments are available for students and their families countywide. The organization employs four full- time bilingual program advisors. Thanks to our programs team, scholarship foundation recipients receive tens of millions of dollars in additional federal, state, and institutional aid each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 67.6%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.61; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 60.1% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 29 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $8.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $261K · 33 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $161K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.