The Gathering

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
752726170
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Mateo, CA, USA
Phone
6503088024
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,779,637
Expenses
$1,665,876
Assets
$1,810,080
Liabilities
$91,801

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSH KWAN (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSH KWAN (CEO): $200,625 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 mission of the gathering is to foster a learning community of philanthropists that serves individuals and families in defining and fulfilling their vision for christian stewardship, deploying the resources entrusted to their care with wisdom and effectiveness in loving our neighbors and following the way of jesus.

What it reported doing in 2024

The gathering holds an annual conference for more than 400 people spanning three generations of participants, all in the interest of helping individuals and families become more wise and effective in the stewardship of the resources entrusted to their care, from money and time to influence and experience. We host an array of experts to share their insights on the christian faith, raising a family, philanthropy, impact investing, board service, social and spiritual impact, as well as key issues facing the christian church, nonprofit ministries, and impact organizations. Through a mixture of designed experiences -- including lectures, panels, group discussions, meals, music, and field trips -- we aim to forge deeper relationships among our peers and foster a learning community for growth and development. Our gennext program enrolls more than 90 children between the ages of 3 to 18, running concurrently with our annual conference. We hope to balance outrageous fun with exposure to the virtues of generosity, faithfulness, and love for others. The gathering also hosts virtual events, in-person convenings, peer groups, and field trips throughout the year, both domestically and internationally. The gathering maintains an active website with an extensive video library, audio and video podcasts, current events, news, interviews and articles of interest to our community. The gathering also creates and distributes a weekly column, and curates a social media profile that points to relevant content for our audience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.4%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.09; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.6% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $201K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.