The Lighthouse Charitable Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204084136
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Capistrano Beach, CA, USA
Phone
9492019300
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,878,087
Expenses
$1,499,131
Assets
$29,688,559
Liabilities
$12,065,100

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CRAIG STIRLING (PRESIDENT)
  • JEFF THOMPSON (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • CRAIG STIRLING (PRESIDENT)
  • MARTINE STIRLING (TREASURER)
  • JEFF THOMPSON (VICE PRESIDENT)

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 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to provide assistance to disadvantaged men in our local community through the efforts of our two christian-based rehab homes and to support other like-minded charities, the needy, disadvantaged, and children at risk.

What it reported doing in 2017

Victory house 1 and 2 are our hands on ministry in capistrano beach, ca. In these two houses, we house between 12 and 14 men who have made some bad choices in life and provide a 1 year christian-based rehabilitation program. The men in this program work on life skills, job training, and furthering education. We run two thrift stores to fund our operations, a rental property, and also have an orchard with around 600 fruit trees where the men work for the first 6 months in their rehabilitation process. During the second 6 months, the men find employment or take classes at local educational facilities to further their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 45
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.4%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 74.5%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 19.8; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.4% of revenue deployed · 80.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2015 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 11 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.