Center For World Indigenous Studies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911247029
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Olympia, WA, USA
Phone
2065579992
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$203,353
Expenses
$156,544
Assets
$369,759
Liabilities
$30,592

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Leslie E Korn (Executive Dir.): $15,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Activist scholars advancing the right of indigenous peoples worldwide

What it reported doing in 2024

Planning and organizing the Congress of Nation and States as a new international mechanism with six task forces, a secretariat, a governing body of representatives from indigenous nations located in West Asia, Mexico, West Africa, New Sealand, Melanesia, Great Britain, South East Asia, USA, Canada for a total aggregate of 70 representatives and professionals. Production of documentaries for broadcast; conducting research on traditional medicine and policy Further the study of medicinal/pharmacological use of wildlife products. Particularly in relation to local communities. digitization of a global library on Indigenous peoples. Production of an open access academic journal twice yearly.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.8%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.36; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.8% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $122K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $15K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2016 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.