Cascadianow

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471954164
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
4256153050
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$331,889
Expenses
$397,045
Assets
$245,647
Liabilities
$11,154

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicholas Bowcut (Past President)
  • Rachelle Martin (President)

People named in this filing

  • Nicholas Bowcut (Past President)
  • Rachelle Martin (President)
  • Adam Wishard (Treasurer)

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

CascadiaNow! provides technical assistance and customized consulting services to grassroots community groups furthering charitable and educational goals across Cascadia, the North American region commonly known as the Pacific Northwest. We aim to empower passionate Cascadians from all lifestyles and backgrounds to initiate social change in their communities of origin. Our core services include bookkeeping, publicity, networking and professional development opportunities, and fundraising consulting.

What it reported doing in 2024

CascadiaStrong: CascadiaNow! (CN!) offers administrative support to charitable grassroots projects through the fiscal sponsorship model. This program provides concierge services to projects which further our mission but often lack the resources, knowledge, or desire to obtain and maintain independent 501(c)3 status. Once vetted for mission alignment and formally adopted by the CN! Board of Directors, fiscally sponsored projects benefit from bookkeeping, financial and administrative services, publicity on CN! communications channels, networking opportunities with other projects and their volunteers, and a wide array of consulting services tailored to specific project needs. In 2024, our fiscal sponsorship program proudly housed nearly 20 projects. These projects are led by the project leaders who operate their programs largely on a volunteer basis. Project leaders come from diverse backgrounds, and are often from the communities served through their project operations through five broad approaches to community betterment: Arts & Culture, Community Connectedness, Education, Health & Wellness, and Stewardship. New projects adopted in 2024 include Designed for Hope, a women-run project that seeks to provide assistance to women at the crossroads of leaving homeless shelters, halfway houses, and transitional housing programs. Another new 2024 project was Portland based Re: Solve NW which seeks to build resilience by uniting community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.3%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.3%; rating input score 84; 50th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -19.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $366K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 43 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.