Magic Incorporated
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Further common interests of humankind by sustaining a residential service learning community to research and teach how people may apply human ecology to discern value more accurately and realize it more fully.
- Income
- $599,817
- Spending
- $330,874
- Spent on programs
- 92%
- Reserves
- 92.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 53%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 300
- Highest pay
- $30,000, director, president
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 70% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 92.1 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 8% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 45% of income.
Income trend
5 of 15Income fell 15% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1592% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 91 out of 100. Higher than 71% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 253 of 5 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
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 December 31, 2024, 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)
- $149,159 spent. Valuescience - In interactions with 400 individuals, we researched ways to motivate people to identify as scientists and to measure strength of individuals' scientist identity. We initiated partnerships with Gandhi Camp and with the Mono Lake Committee Outdoor Education Program. In these, we tested methods to train people to administer an "Inclusive Scientist Identity" intervention and piloted variants with 100 youths. We prototyped a valuescience chatbot, which we're continuing to train using transcripts of recent conversations and hundreds of pages of writing we've completed over the past 50 years. We produced a pilot podcast for a contemplated series about valuescience applied to everyday living, and we've written three foundational blog entries that we're testing with small audiences. Valuescience was featured on the Giving Purpose Podcast, which spotlights small Bay Area public service groups. Form 990, Part III, Line 4a - 4b, and 4c - Magic's programs are integrated, particularly our valuescience-based, service-learning community We've allocated expenses to reflect labor expended by personnel (Magic is operated entirely by volunteers) as well as cash and inkind outlays net of grants. We allocated 60% expenses (excluding grants) to Valuescience, 25% to Cooperation and Individual Well-being, and 15% to Environmental Stewardship
- $116,801 spent. Cooperation & Individual Well-being - In Palo Alto 28 residents from 12 countries and 10 states and in Mammoth Lakes seven residents from two countries and three states flourished as valuescience based residential service learning communities. Four Palo Alto fellows, five Palo Alto residents, the Magic Mammoth fellow and two residents, a Magic founding board member, and four Magic affiliates joined in an organizational "advance" in the Eastern Sierra. We strengthened our partnerships within the communities movement by introducing to valuescience 40 people who are forming the Abundant Ponds community, advising a recent Magic resident in establishing Rainbow Junction Community, consulting with Montaia Community's founder about her new initiatives, publishing "Generational Bonding" in Communities magazine, hosting a Churchill Fellow community researcher from the UK, and becoming sponsors of the Foundation for Intentional Community. With Reduce Waste. Feed People. we collected 17 tons of surplus food from 24 California Avenue Farmers' Market vendors, sorted it, and delivered acceptable items to Community Services Agency and to 1,000 Grains for distribution to hundreds of hungry fellow humans through food bank, hot meal, and nutrition education programs. We delivered over 450 hours of instruction in hatha yoga, swimming, running, biking, resistance training, and nutritional counseling.
- $37,290 spent. Environmental Stewardship - A hundred volunteers gave 600+ hours to plant 20 oaks, irrigate 200, and maintain 2,000 on public access open space visited by 500,000 people each year. We completed a partnership with Stanford's Fukami Lab to establish 512 plants at 16 research sites around the Stanford Dish. Magic was featured on the Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast and in The Tree Collectors by New York Times bestselling author Amy Stewart. We grew Silicon Valley Barcode of Life both on the SF Midpeninsula and the Eastern Sierra, deploying Malaise traps at five sites and hand collecting hundreds of unique specimens. We published, "So You Think You Don't Like Bugs?" in The Sheet, the Mammoth Lakes newspaper.SVBOL principal scientists were among 20 biodiversity researchers who participated in a California Insect Biodiversity Initiative strategic planning meeting with former California Governor Jerry Brown at his rural retreat. We received permits to collect on Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District lands, and we completed the first of several planned deployments of a dozen Malaise traps at Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Our affiliate Escondido Outings Club organized rafting trips for 75 participants on six different rivers in Northern California: camping trips for 70 in Yosemite and other places; and ski trips for 30. We adopted as a sponsored project Project Green Home--a LEED Platinum, net zero energy Passive House used extensively for education public awareness (4000 visitors since 2008) that is featured in annual Peninsula Electric Home Tours. Form 990, Part III, Line 4c, continued. Our affiliate Escondido Outings Club organized rafting trips for 75 participants on six different rivers in Northern California: camping trips for 70 in Yosemite and other places; and ski trips for 30. We adopted as a sponsored project Project Green Home--a LEED Platinum, net zero energy Passive House used extensively for education public awareness (4000 visitors since 2008) that is featured in annual Peninsula Electric Home Tours.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 October 13, 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 November 6, 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 October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since April 1980.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 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 November 4, 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.