Keep California Beautiful
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Bring communities and individuals together to focus on preventing litter and preserving precious natural resources that make California the most beautiful state in the nation.
- Income
- $493,260
- Spending
- $416,433
- Spent on programs
- 91%
- Reserves
- 6.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 92%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 1,905,545
- Highest pay
- $84,912, exec team lead
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.2 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 16% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 119% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1591% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Weak: 46 out of 100. Higher than 9% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
0 of 15Reports no written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $310,848 spent. Clean California KCB manages the community and youth programs statewide for Clean California, an initiative of the Governors Office managed by Caltrans. We are a subcontractor with Sagent Marketing and a group of media partners developing awareness of litter prevention and community beautification. As part of a multi-pronged marketing campaign, KCB has recruited over communities to take the pledge to become designated communities and to guide them in completing at least 10 of 15 criteria to achieve the designation. The goal is to have up to 200 communities pledge by June 2026 and 100 complete the process. KCB created extensive outreach lists of potential partners, including cities, towns, counties, municipal districts, military bases, neighborhood groups, school districts, houses of worship areas, community group service areas, business improvement districts, watershed groups, and other unincorporated entities. KCB developed training materials, workshops, networking opportunities, online tools, and reporting to assist communities. The team provides ongoing opportunities for engagement and recognition. KCB developed K-12 educational materials and managed a $125,000 microgrant program, distributing funds to 750 educators and schools. Additionally, KCB created and managed a 2-year K-12 multimedia contest to encourage youth to design posters or videos to boost the Clean California message that Zero Litter is the Goal and Just One Piece Can Ruin the Picture. KCB also designed and implemented a research project to determine the effectiveness of litter infrastructure interventions, such as trash cans, recycling bins, ash receptacles, landscaping, and community gardens, in changing littering behavior. KCB distributed funding to the sites to purchase the intervention and conducted year-long monitoring, recording an overall reduction in litter across all sites. Project Highlights202 Pledged Communities and 83 Completed as of 4.1.26Distributed 750 microgrants to educators to educate over 50,000 youth in litter prevention and 12 infrastructure grants to communities. (April 2024 - April 2025)1000+ community-based organizations engaged.With funding received from KAB for reimbursement from Caltrans and Iheart.
- $35,303 spent. SacState Partnership - EPA TRADE grant KCB is partnering with Sac State on our 2nd national grant. The non-profit conducts trash rapid assessments throughout the state and has been engaged in multiple projects, including a project to collect and analyze data for MS4 permittees in the American River watershed. KCB trains community-based groups involved in cleanup activities to conduct citizen science, including ranking the overall presence of litter, identifying the sources and types of litter, and documenting area conditions that may contribute to the accumulation or relocation of trash. By providing consistent training, appropriate technology, and quality assurance, the citizen science partners deliver frequent, ongoing data to reduce and manage waste entering waterways. KCB initially designed a litter assessment application in 2019, which became the base tool for the Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange (TRADE) dashboard created with the first EPA grant, which helps achieve trash-free waters by connecting Citizen Science to the monitoring and reporting needs of Municipal Storm Water (MS4) Permittees. The current project in the East Bay expands on the knowledge base KCB has developed through the TRADE and Department of Water Resources American River Basin grants, partnering with Earth Team and UC Berkeley on participatory science activities. Project Highlights:Conducted over 3,000 litter research projects using app designed by KCB team.Developed partnerships with watershed organizations, local and state government, youth, and community leaders to demonstrate the effectiveness of litter prevention education, cleanup, and intervention.
- $32,723 spent. Citizen Science Project KCB managed the planning, organization, outreach, and execution of a series of Climate Action Days in 12 rural counties. These events were conducted in counties that had not participated in California Volunteers projects. KCB conducted research to identify volunteer organizations and government entities to partner on developing a minimum 2-hour climate action event focused on wildfire resilience, native planting, composting, or food recovery. Once a lead organization was identified, which included local non-profits, local governments, and community associations, KCB met weekly for 6 weeks leading up to the event, assisting the local leaders in developing volunteer management skills and planning their event. KCB created promotional materials and set up online registration through Golden Volunteers. Along with the local partner(s), the team promoted the event through social media, digital advertising, and stakeholder networks to drive attendance. During these events, KCB conducted registration, assisted or led educational discussions on community engagement, volunteerism, and impacts of native planting, invasive species or brush removal, tree maintenance, composting, gardening, and food recovery. KCB engaged over 1,839 volunteers through climate action events across California, involving over 87 organizations in the planning process.Project Highlights30 events organized and executed.6,000+ volunteer hours 62,000+ square feet of area improved, 4653 native plants, 13+ acres of wildfire resiliency, and 53 structures protected.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 1991.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.