United Way of Santa Cruz County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941422471
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Capitola, CA, USA
Phone
8314795466
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,638,281
Expenses
$5,379,696
Assets
$3,536,869
Liabilities
$579,344

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEISHA FROST (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • HAJIME ARNOLD (President)
  • YVETTE BROOKS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEISHA FROST (PRESIDENT & CEO): $168,914 total reported compensation
  • Michelle Dodge (Finance Director): $160,117 total reported compensation
  • Sarah Emmert (Community Org Dir.): $111,896 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 united way of santa cruz county is to ignite our community to give, advocate and volunteer so that our youth succeed in school and in life, our residents are healthy and our families are financially independent.our most significant activity is the united for youth initiative, a community partnership that works to reduce youth poverty by creating environment changes giving children more opportunities for living in a healthier, thriving, and safer santa cruz county.cradle to career and black health initiative as fiscal sponsorship.

What it reported doing in 2024

United for community also known as 2-1-1 is a centralized helpline for the public to get information on health and human services. Callers can use the easy-to-remember, toll-free number, 2-1-1, where a trained specialist will match needs to local services. In times of disaster, 2-1-1 provides up-to-date information on road closures, evacuation sites and temporary shelter, relieving the burden on 9-1-1. Youth and families can connect to critical services for basic needs by calling the hotline, texting their zip code to 211-211, or visiting the website, www.211santacruzcounty.org united for youth centers youth voice and positions youth as drivers of community change. The goal of the program is to work with out-of-school programs to focus on and support positive youth development, youth-adult partnerships, and fostering community connections through participation in community-level decision-making. Jovenes sanos (healthy youth) focuses on youth leadership and advocacy regarding health and wellness to create a healthier, thriving community. Youth enhance their leadership and academic skills by engaging in local decision-making to promote healthy eating and active living through physical activity and nutrition workshops. The program also focuses on promoting college and career readiness, health and wellness, economic mobility, and community engagement. United way of scc provides community grants to support local youth-serving programs in marginalized communities throughout santa cruz county. United way of scc collaborates with local agencies to develop networks and strategic plans that improve the health and well-being of youth and families in santa cruz county. Youth programs include after-school academic support, mental health services, healthy eating and active living initiatives, mentoring, career pathways, mindfulness, nutrition workshops, and advocacy to promote healthy communities. By ensuring youth have the opportunity to reach their greatest potential, united way of santa cruz county is focusing on youth well-being to provide support services and programs to promote college and career readiness, health and wellness, economic stability, and community connection among santa cruz countys highest needs youth. United 4 youth is a collaborative to provide support services and programs to youth and families throughout santa cruz county. The collaborative assembles nonprofits and local leaders to design innovative programs that lead to positive and sustainable outcomes for youth - from academic support to policy change in local government.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 64% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: 4.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 20 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.