Via Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943048152
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5108481616
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$683,684
Expenses
$856,138
Assets
$558,106
Liabilities
$961,735

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Angela McGee (Director): $141,788 total reported compensation
  • Staci Brewer (Director): $121,039 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Via Center is a special education school serving students aged 6 to 21 that are developmentally disabled. Besides academic classes, students are provided with recreational activities, including trips that familiarize them with the outside world.

What it reported doing in 2023

Via Center is a special education school serving students aged six to twenty-one that are developmentally disabled. Besides academic classes, students are provided with recreational activities, including trips, that familiarize them with the outside world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.72; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.4% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $605K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.