Sozo Impact Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824956112
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
9177913680
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Council/Agency

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,742,026
Expenses
$2,646,553
Assets
$1,383,811
Liabilities
$90,776

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rika Iino (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rika Iino (CEO): $149,449 total reported compensation
  • Ichun Yeh (VP of Sales): $108,233 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

SOZO is an international contemporary arts agency and incubator at the intersection of impact, innovation, and culture, empowering transformative artistic innovation and social change.

What it reported doing in 2025

- Artists & Projects: Provided strategic business and creative development support for multidisciplinary artists and their projects, generated new national and international engagement and commission opportunities, many of which highlight the intersection of arts, innovation and social impact. In 2025 SOZO maintained a diverse portfolio of artists, reached 40,000 online & in person audiences and partnered with institutions around the globe.- Fellowship: Maintained and expanded a groundbreaking coaching program to support artists with sustainability and entrepreneurship training. In 2025 the application process attracted over 250 applicants from across the US. The selected 12 fellows worked with experts from across the arts, health, finance, and startup communities to build leadership and entrepreneurial skills.- Fiscal Sponsorship: Provide fiscal sponsorship services for mission-aligned artists and projects aimed at social impact with the goal of strengthening the capacity, reach, and impact of artists and projects across disciplines and regions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.4%; rating input score 99; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.5%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 40.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $149K · 4 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $270K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.