Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Trustees of Rancho Santa Ana Botan
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDENS PROMOTES BOTANY, CONSERVATION, AND HORTICULTURE TO INSPIRE, INFORM AND EDUCATE THE PUBLIC AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY ABOUT CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE FLORA. THE GARDEN IS DEVOTED TO THE COLLECTION, CULTIVATION, STUDY, AND DISPLAY OF NATIVE CALIFORNIA PLANTS AND TO GRADUATE TRAINING AND RESEARCH IN PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION. THROUGH ALL ITS PROGRAMS, THE GARDEN MAKES SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE APPRECIATION, ENJOYMENT, UNDERSTANDING, AND THOUGHTFUL UTILIZATION OF OUR NATURAL HERITAGE.
- Income
- $6.0 million
- Spending
- $6.5 million
- Spent on programs
- 75%
- Reserves
- 32.3 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 51%
- Employees
- 113
- Volunteers
- 170
- Highest pay
- $180,934, executive director
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
Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 58% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 32.3 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 3% of what it owns.
Living within its means
4 of 15Spending exceeded income by 7% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 8% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1575% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 17 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
Strong: 95 out of 100. Higher than 55% of charities in its peer group (environment, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2520 of 20 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
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited 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 (4)
- $1.4 million spent. CONSERVATION - WE ARE WORKING TO CONSERVE CALIFORNIA FLORA THROUGH INVENTORY, MONITORING, RESEARCH, HORTICULTURE, RESTORATION AND SEED BANK PROGRAMS. PLANT CONSERVATION AT RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN (RSABG) IS CENTRAL TO OUR MISSION AND IS A NATURAL EXTENSION OF OUR RICH HISTORY IN RESEARCH AND HORTICULTURE. CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY IS CHALLENGING AS WE FACE CATASTROPHIC DROUGHT, WILDFIRES, INVASION OF EXOTIC SPECIES, AND EXPANDING URBANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT. RSABG HAS BEEN A CORNERSTONE IN THE WORLD OF CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT CONSERVATION AND, AS OUR CHALLENGES GROW, RSABG WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AT THE FRONT LINES. RSABG HAS ACTIVE PROGRAMS IN FLORISTIC RESEARCH, RARE PLANT RESEARCH AND MONITORING, POPULATION GENETICS, SEED COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION, PLANT PROPAGATION, RESTORATION, AND INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT TO ADVANCE CONSERVATION OF CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE PLANTS AND HABITATS.
- $1.1 million spent. GRADUATE EDUCATION, COMMUNITY EDUCATION, VISITOR AND NURSERY SERVICES IN PROMOTION OF THE ORGANIZATION'S MISSION.
- $1.1 million spent. RESEARCH, LIBRARY AND HERBARIUM - THE ORGANIZATION MAINTAINS A COMPREHENSIVE LIVING COLLECTION OF CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS, AN EXTENSIVE DRIED SPECIMEN COLLECTION IN THE HERBARIUM, AND A WIDE-RANGING COLLECTION OF BOTANY VOLUMES HELD IN ITS LIBRARY. NO COST HAS BEEN CAPITALIZED FOR THESE COLLECTIONS AS IT IS IMPRACTICAL TO DETERMINE THEIR VALUE DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF ITEMS AND THE LONG SPAN OF YEARS IT HAS TAKEN TO CREATE THE COLLECTIONS. IN ADDITION, CAPITALIZING COLLECTIONS CONTRADICTS STANDARDS OF COLLECTIONS STEWARDSHIP AND IS COUNTER TO THE ETHICAL STANDARDS SET FORTH BY THE MUSEUM FIELD. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE - THE RESEARCH LIBRARY CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 48,000 VOLUMES AND 750 CURRENT JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS. ACQUISITIONS INCREASE YEARLY AND INCLUDE BOUND JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS. THE LIBRARY ALSO HOUSES THE ARCHIVES WHICH INCLUDE THE MARCUS JONES ARCHIVES AND COLLECTION, AS WELL AS THE SAMUEL PARISH COLLECTIONS; BOTH MEN WERE LOCAL BOTANISTS IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. HERBARIUM - THE COMBINED HERBARIUM OF RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDENS IS ABOUT THE TENTH LARGEST IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE THIRD LARGEST IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, WITH CURRENT HOLDINGS TOTALING OVER 1,100,000 SPECIMENS REPRESENTING PLANT DIVERSITY WORLDWIDE AND WITH SUPERLATIVE STRENGTHS IN HOLDING OF PLANTS FROM CALIFORNIA AND OTHER MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE REGIONS.
- $1.2 million spent. HORTICULTURE - LIVING PLANT COLLECTIONS: LIVING COLLECTION - THE LIVING COLLECTION CONTRIBUTES TO THE RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION MISSION OF THE GARDEN. THROUGH PUBLIC HORTICULTURE, THE LIVING COLLECTION ALSO PROMOTES THE THOUGHTFUL UTILIZATION OF OUR NATURAL HERITAGE. THE LIVING COLLECTION COVERS 86 ACRES HOUSING OVER 2,500 ACCESSIONS OF PLANTS NATIVE TO CALIFORNIA AND BAJA. THOSE ACCESSIONS REPRESENT 1,400 TAXA, DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLANTS, INCLUDING 900 SPECIES. SEED CONSERVATION PROGRAM - THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN'S SEED PROGRAM IS THE CURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE GARDEN'S EXTENSIVE SEED COLLECTION. THE COLLECTION IS COMPRISED OF OVER 4,000 ACCESSIONS REPRESENTING MORE THAN 1,600 CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SPECIES AND CULTIVARS.
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 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 October 13, 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 June 2025.
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 November 1936.
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 October 21, 2026.
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