True West Film Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472085577
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
- Location
- Healdsburg, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7078937150
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Film, Video
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,114,244
- Expenses
- $1,181,268
- Assets
- $3,629,686
- Liabilities
- $849,883
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KATHRYN PHILIP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- KATHRYN PHILIP (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $170,287 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
True west film center brings the transformative power of cinema to northern California. We remove barriers to film and media arts. We support artists, educate students of all ages, and create joy through entertainment, fostering a community where everyone belongs.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education: true west film center's youth education programs reach students across sonoma county with school partnerships in five sonoma county districts. We work with community groups, nonprofits, and youth leaders to close the gap in digital literacy and media art skills training by offering an integrated arts curriculum in core classes using teaching artists, extracurricular filmmaking workshops, field trips to film festivals, free film screenings, summer camps, and service-learning opportunities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 61
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 48.6%; rating input score 49
- Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 44.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.07; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 34.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 30.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 43.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 48.6% of revenue deployed · 84.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $994K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $197K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.