Stewardship Action Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873813812
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9162171109
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$200,160
Expenses
$225,791
Assets
$20,487
Liabilities
$9,189

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIC ZETZ (PRESIDENT)
  • HEIDI SANBORN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEIDI SANBORN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $45,967 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educate and collaborate with public, private and non-profit stakehodlers to achieve a responsible, circular economy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Member convenings & webinars: saf hosted and participated in national webinars and virtual events, reaching more than 3,000 participants. These convenings brought together legislators, regulators, industry representatives, and subject-matter experts to explore practical solutions for complex waste management and sustainability challenges.educational programming included a national webinar series on recycling innovations designed to highlight emerging technologies and solutions entering the market. Key educational activities included: * hosting a national webinar on producer responsibility for marine flares and boat wrap, in colloboration with state agencies and national partners, addressing end-of-life management challenges and policy approaches. * presenting on producer responsibility at a national virtual summit focused on marine and boating issues. * convening a national educational event on beverage recylcing systems, including program design considerations and lessons learned.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and 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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.5%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.8%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 35.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.5% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $189K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.