Valley Churches United
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 770163322
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ben Lomond, CA, United States
- Phone
- (831) 336-8258
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,771,274
- Expenses
- $1,454,289
- Assets
- $4,566,564
- Liabilities
- $28,757
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
People named in this filing
- ANDRE ADEMA (CHAIRPERSON)
- JEANETTE LARKIN (VICE-CHAIR)
- DEBORAH ELSTON (SECRETARY)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To bridge the gap in times of crisis by providing assistance to local residents, thus promoting stability, self-sufficiency and hope. Valley Churches United is a food pantry organization serving the needs of low-income residents of San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley and Bonny Doon. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that does not receive government funding --- we rely entirely on the generous donations of individuals and local businesses and organizations. Neighbors helping neighbors. Mission Statement. It wasn’t long before Annette realized that not all disasters are natural --- there are also economic and medical crises that strike even when the sky is sunny and blue. In 1985, Valley Churches United was formally established as a nonprofit organization to serve the needs of residents in crisis. Who We Are Today Over the past 41 years, Valley Churches United has continued to grow and serve...
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization provided backpacks, scholarships, school supplies, and other assistance to local students in need. Vcum provides assistance with utilites of all kinds in the emergency situations. Vcum also provides several types of transportation assistance to qualified clients with emergency needs. These include assistance with driver's license renewal and id cards, vehicle registration, bus passes and gasoline vouchers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 70% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 75
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.2%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $61.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 17.9%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.14; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 78.2% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.