Better Together Central Oregon

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472747562
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Redmond, OR, USA
Phone
5415935678
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,842,645
Expenses
$2,796,872
Assets
$2,803,300
Liabilities
$198,799

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carlos Salcedo (President)

People named in this filing

  • Bruce Abernethy (Director)
  • Stefanie Garber (Director)
  • Sonya Littledeer-Evans (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to improve educational outcomes for children and youth from cradle to career in Central Oregon. They do this by fostering cross-sector collaboration bringing together partners from education, business, health, philanthropy, government, and community organizations to align efforts, share data, and collectively support children and families.

What it reported doing in 2024

Better Together's general operations support the backbone functions of the regional cradle-to-career partnership, which includes convening cross-sector partners, aligning strategies across institutions, and supporting shared data practices to improve outcomes for youth. A key accomplishment within this work is the sustained coordination and facilitation of Latinx Family Councils in multiple communities across Central Oregon. Through Latinx Family Councils, Better Together elevates the voices of Latinx families in educational decision-making, ensuring systems are more responsive and equitable. This work aligns with our mission by centering community voice and advancing racial equity across the cradle-to-career continuum. Juntos Aprendemos A bilingual early learning program for Latinx families with children ages 3-5. It promotes school readiness, family leadership, and cultural identity. By preparing children for kindergarten and supporting parent engagement, Juntos Aprendemos advances Better Together's mission to close opportunity gaps early in life. Papalaxamisha is a Warm Springs-based initiative focused on early childhood education, family engagement, and Indigenous language and culture revitalization. Better Together provides operational and strategic support to ensure the sustainability and growth of this community-led effort.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $37.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.4% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.