Volunteer Centers of Santa Cruz County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941702678
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8314275070
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,480,291
Expenses
$6,486,416
Assets
$1,679,535
Liabilities
$407,942

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN DELANEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • TOM EAGLE (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • RODNEY SELLERS (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • CRYSTAL PEREZ (CO-VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RICK ZINMAN (CO-VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN DELANEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $136,546 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN PETERSON (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $131,872 total reported compensation
  • JOHN MIZELL (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $82,743 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

At the volunteer center, we connect people for good because meaningful service is the heart of a strong, vibrant community and a healthy, happy life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided centralized volunteer program administration for a variety of volunteer programs. Counseling and employment skills are provided for mentally disabled persons.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $41.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 36th 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $137K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 59 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 56 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.