Sequoia Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330100208
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8584590434
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,372,925
Expenses
$1,534,178
Assets
$1,086,218
Liabilities
$651,277

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • John Petterson (Executive Dir.): $49,942 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sequoia Foundation's mission is to identify and reduce environmental threats to public health. This mission is achieved through research collaborations with local, state, federal, and international agencies, community-based organizations, hospitals, and universities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public Health Research and Development consists of the following: The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program TRDRP aims to eliminate commercial tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases and to improve the health and well-being of all Californians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses blood collection to create newborn quality assurance materials and improve newborn screening laboratory methods. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducts ambient air monitoring of pollutants of greatest concern in communities with environmental and health outcome disparities stemming from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Institutes of Health conducts research on the effects of multigenerational air pollution exposure on adverse birth outcomes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 54
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 61.4%; rating input score 61
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.7% of revenue deployed · 61.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $942K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.