Alberta Abbey Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473125530
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032183696
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,454,128
Expenses
$1,266,428
Assets
$836,538
Liabilities
$819,477

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • BRIAN GILLIS (BOARD CHAIR/)
  • NOVA MOISA (DIRECTOR)
  • ERIC PAINE (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Alberta abbey aims to nuture the creative, visual and performing arts in n/ne portland by amplifying opportunities for black and underrepresented communities. The abbey serves this mission by providing affordable education, gallery, studio, and performance spaces, and showcasing events for local groups of all ages.

What it reported doing in 2025

Program service accomplishments januarydecember 2025 alberta abbey foundation served 31,295+ attendees across 12 months of programming in 2025. Highlights by program area: productions (self-produced): original concerts, performances, open mics, and community showcases produced directly by aaf including our black history month series (february), passinart gospel show, cotton club reunion, albina jazz showcase, karma rivera, the jury experience, band after midnight, sonde cuba, and more. Events spanned the main theater and basement ballroom. Productions (presented): hosted artists and touring productions including the "everything's better" run (5weeks, 39 shows, augustseptember), black nativity (december), afterdark (3 weeks, december), barefootfusion, ballake sissoko & derek gripper, dobet gnahore, ablaye cissoko, and others. Film screenings: regular monthly screenings throughout the year. Classes & workshops: the listen movement (februaryaugust, 8 biweekly workshops), yoga for us for black & underrepresented communities (octoberdecember), and additional workshop programming. Community programs: red cross blood drives (february, june), town hall with rep. Travis e. Nelson, 10 month performance fund (10mpf) events, and other community gatherings. Aggregate 2025 stats: total people served: 31,295+ total artists supported: 1,097+ total acts presented: 685+ free/subsidized tickets distributed: 1,678 mission-aligned events: 527 events featuring bipoc artists or leadership: 1,604 women-led events: 729 lgbtqia+-focused events: 380

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.98; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.8% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.