The Berkeley Alembic Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873386461
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$743,095
Expenses
$695,862
Assets
$294,503
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kathryn Devaney (Vice President)
  • Michael Taft (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kathryn Devaney (Vice President): $111,356 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Alembic is a nonprofit bodymind center committed to experiments in transformation.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Berkeley Alembic Foundation (The Alembic) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit dedicated to fostering community in the Bay Area through donation-based classes, workshops, and cultural events. We aim to create an inclusive and vibrant space for personal growth, shared learning, and creative expression, accessible to people at all income levels. In 2024, The Alembic hosted an impressive 474 total events (up from 408), with 9,334 donation-based tickets claimed in advance (up from 4,319) by 4,213 unique individuals (up from 2,032). Of these, 2,890 (was 1,285) attendees joined for a single event, while the remaining 1323 (was 747) individuals participated in two to an astonishing 98 (was 58) events over the year, with repeat attendees engaging in an average of 4.5 events. Throughout the year, The Alembic continued to expand its offerings. At the start of 2024, we hosted 11 regularly occurring classes and approximately 15 special events per month, growing to 38 regular classes and approximately 9 special events per month by year-end.

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.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 6.4%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 112.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 77.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $537K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.