We build and facilitate compositing communities throughout LA Count. Our mission at LA Compost is to connect the people of Los Angeles to the soil and each other.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
66¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$236K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2020 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $111K a year · 8% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
66%
of spending
Fine: 66% of spending went to programs; 65% to 75%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$236K
to officers and key staff · 37% of spending
Concern: pay to officers and key staff is 37% of spending; over 30%.
Pt VII · Sec A
7 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 7.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $5K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$76K
18% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 18% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$852K
Spent
$641K
To programs
66%
Net assets
$346K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$852K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$852K
FY2021$975K
FY2022$1.1M
FY2023$2.5M
FY2024$1.8M
Expenses
$641K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$641K
FY2021$768K
FY2022$1.1M
FY2023$1.6M
FY2024$2.5M
Net assets
$346K
FY2020
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$346K
FY2021$552K
FY2022$494K
FY2023$2.1M
FY2024$1.4M

From the FY2020 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2020 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 2013.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

66 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 66% · $421K Management & general 33% · $209K Fundraising 2% · $11K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

6 people listed on the 990; $236K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Director
$80,000Pt VII · Sec A
Operations & Program Manager
$54,667Pt VII · Sec A
Director of Development
$39,542Pt VII · Sec A
South Los Angeles Regional Coordinator
$33,235Pt VII · Sec A
Community Engagement Coordinator
$28,328Pt VII · Sec A
—
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Michael Martinez’s $140K as Executive Di is at the 59th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3395 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 5 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2020
Michael Martinez$140,408$109,791$80,000$80,000
Enjoli Ferrari———$54,667
Diego Sepulveda———$39,542
Jonathan Denova———$33,235
Paola Reyes———$28,328

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Builds and facilitates composting communities across Los Angeles County.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $391K · in their own filed words · FY2020
01

Create and maintain composting hubs throughout the Los Angeles area.

$303Kprogram expense
02

Farmers market food scraps drop off and offer advice an information to the general public.

$64Kprogram expense
03

Educate the community about composting.

$24Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$5K
Grants paid · 2 grants · $110K · 2023–2023
Individual RecipientFY2023$59,531
Nehemiah GroupFY2023$50,000

By the numbers

The FY2020 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$852K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$851K
Investment incomeLn 3$559
Money outPt IX
$641K
Ln 25
Programscol B$421K
Managementcol C$209K
Fundraisingcol D$11K
Owns and owesPt X
$346K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$397K
Total assetsLn 16$422K
LiabilitiesLn 26$76K
PeoplePt VI, VII
6
listed · VII A
PaidVII A5
Voting boardVI 1a0
IndependentVI 1b0
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$851K
Government grantsLn 1e$0
Noncash giftsLn 1g$0
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$0
Investment incomeLn 3$559
Gains on assetsLn 7$0
Total revenueLn 12$852K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$397K
SavingsLn 2$0
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$397K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$25K
Other assetsLn 15$0
Total assetsLn 16$422K
LiabilitiesLn 26$76K
Net assetsLn 32$346K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 516
VolunteersI 60
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY20End FY20
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$125K$397K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$14K$25K
Total assetsLn 16$139K$422K
LiabilitiesLn 26$4K$76K
Net assetsLn 32$135K$346K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$0$0
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$0$0
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$362K$272K$89K$0
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0$0$0$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$0$0$0$0
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$0$0$0$0
Other employee benefitsLn 9$28K$21K$7K$0
Payroll taxesLn 10$31K$24K$8K$0
Management feesLn 11a$61K$1K$48K$11K
Legal feesLn 11b$0$0$0$0
Accounting feesLn 11c$12K$0$12K$0
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0$0$0$0
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$0$0$0$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$0$0$0$0
Advertising and promotionLn 12$0$0$0$0
Office expensesLn 13$2K$416$1K$0
Information technologyLn 14$575$90$485$0
RoyaltiesLn 15$0$0$0$0
OccupancyLn 16$16K$0$16K$0
TravelLn 17$5K$5K$0$0
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0$0$0$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$0$0$0$0
InterestLn 20$637$0$637$0
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0$0$0$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$4K$0$4K$0
InsuranceLn 23$7K$5K$2K$0
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$85K$82K$3K$0
All other expensesLn 24e$29K$11K$18K$0
Total functional expensesLn 25$641K$421K$209K$11K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest $1.8M$2.5M−$702K$1.4M 990 PDF
FY2023 $2.5M$1.6M$918K$2.1M 990 PDF
FY2022 $1.1M$1.1M−$80K$494K 990 PDF
FY2021 $975K$768K$206K$552K 990 PDF
FY2020 Viewing $852K$641K$210K$346K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $851,580 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $492,680$851,021
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $63$559
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$211$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $492,532$851,580
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $249,629$420,731
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $157,225$220,580
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $406,854$641,311
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $85,678$210,269
Part VI · Governance 2 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body0
VI-1b Independent voting members0
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $851,580 across 16 lines filed
VIII-1a Federated campaigns$0
VIII-1b Membership dues$0
VIII-1c Fundraising events$0
VIII-1d Related organizations$0
VIII-1e Government grants$0
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$839,488
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$0
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$851,021
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-3 Investment incomeRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$559
VIII-5 RoyaltiesRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsUnrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Related to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$0
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$851,580
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $641,311 across 31 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $0$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $0$0
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $0$0
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for membersPrograms $0$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $272,451 · Management $89,350 · Fundraising $0$361,801
IX-6 Pay of disqualified personsPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $20,680 · Management $6,866 · Fundraising $0$27,546
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $23,538 · Management $7,846 · Fundraising $0$31,384
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $1,430 · Management $48,264 · Fundraising $11,433$61,127
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $0 · Management $12,000 · Fundraising $0$12,000
IX-11d Lobbying feesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-11e Professional fundraising feesFundraising $0$0
IX-11f Investment management feesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $416 · Management $1,225 · Fundraising $0$1,641
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $90 · Management $485 · Fundraising $0$575
IX-15 RoyaltiesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $0 · Management $15,972 · Fundraising $0$15,972
IX-17 TravelPrograms $4,591 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$4,591
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officialsPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-20 InterestPrograms $0 · Management $637 · Fundraising $0$637
IX-21 Payments to affiliatesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $0 · Management $3,653 · Fundraising $0$3,653
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $5,315 · Management $1,553 · Fundraising $0$6,868
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $81,547 · Management $3,088 · Fundraising $0$84,635
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $10,547 · Management $18,330 · Fundraising $0$28,881
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $420,605 · Management $209,269 · Fundraising $11,433$641,311
Part X · Balance sheet $421,625 assets, 24 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $124,864$397,078
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $0$0
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $0$0
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $0$0
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $0$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $0$0
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $14,119$24,547
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $0$0
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $0$0
X-13 Program-related investmentsStart of year $0$0
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $0$0
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $0$0
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $138,983$421,625
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $0$10,615
X-18 Grants payableStart of year $0$0
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $0$0
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $0$0
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $3,638$65,396
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $3,638$76,011
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $135,095$345,364
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $250$250
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $135,345$345,614
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $138,983$421,625
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $345,614 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$851,580
XI-2 Total expenses$641,311
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$210,269
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$135,345
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$0
XI-6 Donated services and use of facilities$0
XI-7 Investment expenses$0
XI-8 Prior period adjustments$0
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$345,614

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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