Sunnyvale Sister City Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 463909427
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Sunnyvale, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6692068525
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $253,210
- Expenses
- $230,624
- Assets
- $34,093
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
People named in this filing
- RON (ZIELINSKI)
- JAY (YAMANAGA)
- NICOLE (NISHIMOTO)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
SSCA promotes immersive cross-cultural exchanges for residents of all ages in Sunnyvale and Iizuka, Japan through virtual and in-person engagements. These exchanges build community, broaden minds, broaden relationships, and broaden horizons, creating diverse ties between our cities for a better future together.
What it reported doing in 2024
1. Iizuka-to-Sunnyvale (I2S) Student Exchange Program Since 2014, the organization has partnered with the Iizuka Friendship Network and Iizuka City to promote international cultural exchange between Sunnyvale and Iizuka students. Each March, SSCA hosts middle and high school students from Iizuka for homestays with local families in Sunnyvale, allowing participants to experience daily American life, attend school activities, and participate in cultural and educational programs. To date, the program has connected more than 300 students from both communities and continues to strengthen cross-cultural understanding and sister-city relations. 2. Sunnyvale-to-Iizuka (S2I) Student Exchange Program Each June, SSCA sends Sunnyvale students to Iizuka, Japan, for a homestay and cultural immersion experience. Participants stay with local host families, attend school and community events, and engage in activities highlighting Japanese history, culture, and daily life. The program provides Sunnyvale youth with a meaningful international experience that fosters global awareness, independence, and long-term relationships with partner families in Iizuka. SSCA coordinates travel, orientation, supervision, and cultural activities in collaboration with its sister-city partners. 3. Sunnyvale-to-Japan Adult and Family Cultural Tour SSCA administers an annual adult and family cultural tour to Japan, typically a two-week program beginning in Tokyo and concluding with a three-day stay in the sister city of Iizuka. Participants experience traditional and modern Japanese culture through activities such as hot spring visits, sake brewery tours, World Heritage sites, scenic gardens, and stays at traditional inns (ryokans). The program includes roundtrip airfare from San Francisco, domestic travel in Japan, guided English-language tours, and an optional homestay with Iizuka community members. This program strengthens international friendships and promotes cultural understanding for adults and families.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 - 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 some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 8.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 34.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $215K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.