Together Bay Area
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 461573954
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
- Location
- Berkeley, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5103337367
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $963,757
- Expenses
- $900,162
- Assets
- $519,700
- Liabilities
- $417,521
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANNIE BURKE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- MELANIE PARKER (PRESIDENT)
- YAKUTA POONAWALLA (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- ANNIE BURKE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $170,344 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To be the champion and regional voice of the resilient lands that are integral to a thriving bay area and all people who live here.
What it reported doing in 2024
Together bay area brings together organizations, tribal communities, and public agencies to promote justice, environmental conservation, and sustainable development in the region. Their programs-regional funding, native alliances, regional conservation, and regional coordination-focus on securing stable funding for member projects, strengthening tribal partnerships, protecting natural habitats, and fostering collaboration among organizations. Through these efforts, the coalition enables resource sharing, effective advocacy, and collective action toward a more resilient and equitable community.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.7%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.58; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.7% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $710K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $106K reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.