Social Compassion in Legislation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208923001
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Laguna Beach, CA, USA
Phone
9496275048
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$533,297
Expenses
$184,986
Assets
$929,542
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Judie Mancuso (President CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nickolaus Sackett (Director of Legislative Affairs): $104,400 total reported compensation
  • Judie Mancuso (President CEO): $12,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Social Compassion in Legislation's (SCIL) mission is to save and protect animals in the wild, on the farm, and in homes through public policy advocacy in California and federally. SCIL works closely with legislators to sponsor legislation and steer regulations that affect animals, as well as fight legislation that does harm to animals.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization advocated for eight sponsored bills including two signed into law. AB 478, the FOUND Act, a bill to require all local jurisdictions to update their emergency plans to include assistance for pets and other provisions, and SB 221, a bill to include threats to pets as a component of criminal stalking, as well as numerous non-sponsored bills in California.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26.7%; rating input score 27
  • Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $54.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 65.3%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.02; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 62.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 26.7% of revenue deployed · 74.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $138K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $104K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 27/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.