Awoke
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 824885269
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2019
- Location
- Pacoima, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8184217299
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $844,965
- Expenses
- $768,409
- Assets
- $622,812
- Liabilities
- $88,370
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- VANESSA HAYDEE MARTINEZ (PRESIDENT)
- PIERRE ARREOLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- LORENZO CHAPMAN (CREATIVE DIRECTOR): $79,423 total reported compensation
- ERIC CHAPMAN (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $79,423 total reported compensation
- PIERRE ARREOLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $35,968 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Awoke produces community development projects, arts and athletics programming, and cultural events to empower young adults to become local leaders. By investing in young people, awoke builds community capacity to drive social change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Sheldon skate park: awoke's sheldon skate park initiative hosted 12 community days/clean-ups and delivered three seasonal cycles of club programs (approximately 50 skate instruction/mentorship sessions, 50 dance instruction/mentorship sessions, and 150 wrestling instruction/mentoring sessions) serving 136 unduplicated youth (total attendances 5500) and totaling 455 instructional hours. Monthly community days averaged 100 attendees each, serving 750 meals in total, and distributing over $2,000 in prizes, while engaging 13 local small businesses. On may 25, awoke produced the shell city skate fest with skate contests, live art, vendor village, and music/dance showcases, welcoming approximately 400 attendees. In total, sheldon-based programming provided consistent, prosocial activation of a key public space while expanding access to safe recreation and arts for local youth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.6%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.1%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 25.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 39% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 41.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.6% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $614K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.