Albina Opportunities Corporation Dba Ascent Funding

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205597705
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5034885945
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$-259,872
Expenses
$425,893
Assets
$548,628
Liabilities
$641,603

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBIN WANG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBIN WANG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $107,311 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To create financial equity and jobs in the portland area through lending and business guidance to minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged, and low income business communities. Ascent funding was founded to address financial discrimination facing african-american owned businesses in the albina neighborhood in north/northeast portland. Our support for that community remains strong, but our reach has expanded to include minority- and women-owned businesses and those in low income communities throughout the portland metro area.

What it reported doing in 2019

Business advisory services: the organization provides prospective and existing borrower-clients with access to free business advisory services and educational workshops and programs from staff and volunteer business advisors

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 75% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -263.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.17; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $377K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.