SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 954131888
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Diamond Bar, CA, USA
- Phone
- 9099786707
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $432,498
- Expenses
- $305,247
- Assets
- $3,127,329
- Liabilities
- $152,484
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MIKE SPAGNOLA (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MIKE SPAGNOLA (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $617,349 total reported compensation
- GEORGE AFREMOW (FORMER VP & CFO): $425,878 total reported compensation
- WILLIAM MILLER (FORMER SR. VP, OPS): $217,874 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To assist the specialty automotive industry in efforts to expand, maintain and promote the profitable distribution of custom automotive products through the manufacturer | distributor | retailer | consumer channel.
What it reported doing in 2024
Scholarships from sema memorial scholarship fund were granted to worthy individuals and payments were made directly to their respective schools. Financial assistance from sema cares were provided to several different types of charitable organizations which are exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 29.4%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.25; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 92.2% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $262K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $617K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 9 filed related-organization links
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is not authorized to operate as a charity in California.