Sonoma Community Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941566728
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sonoma, CA, USA
Phone
7079384626
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Neighborhood Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,297,701
Expenses
$2,383,013
Assets
$2,435,355
Liabilities
$415,047

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALISON PULIDO (Vice President)
  • ANNE O'BRIEN (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • VANESSA ROGNLIEN (Executive Dir.): $102,292 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

SCC exists to enrich the lives of the people of Sonoma Valley by fostering a broad range of cultural, educational, recreational and community service activities in an affordable space as well as helping to preserve and restore our historic buildings.

What it reported doing in 2024

For 70 years, the Sonoma Community Center has been the cultural heart and soul of the Sonoma Valley. Originally built as the Sonoma Grammar School in 1916, the Community Center was incorporated as a public benefit 501(c)3 organization in 1952, and is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. Today, the mission of the Sonoma Community Center is to cultivate a vibrant community through extraordinary creative, cultural, and learning experiences. Driven by values of community, innovation, creativity, inclusion, and leadership, the Center offers a broad range of programs, events, and performances that encourage people from all walks of life to create, connect, thrive, and build community together. We offer over 200 classes annually in ceramics, fine art, fiber art, music, movement, culinary arts, and writing. We also host an Artist-in-Residence program that attracts expert artists to work and teach at the Center. On campus, we house and maintain valued partnerships with the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Crescent Montessori School, the Sonoma International Film Festival, and Sonoma Arts Live, our theater production partner. Our Andrews Hall Theater offers a year-round schedule of films, live music, theater performances, and more for audiences of all ages. We host a variety of creative community events throughout the year, including our annual Da de los Muertos celebration in early November, and our free Thanksgiving Dinner, a valued community tradition for decades now. The Center is also an integral part of the City of Sonoma's emergency preparedness plans; we serve on the City's Disaster Council, and serve as the Emergency Volunteer Center for the City of Sonoma during local disasters and other emergencies. In 2020-21, the Center provided virtual and in-person arts experiences to 3,844 individuals. In addition, approximately 5,000 participated in several free virtual events. Approximately 20 community groups made use of our building space for meetings or activities.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 66.4%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69% of revenue deployed · 66.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.