Central Ohio Worker Center
Legal name: Central Ohio Workers Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 465622456
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2019
- Location
- Columbus, OH, USA
- Phone
- 6143796080
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $363,202
- Expenses
- $310,048
- Assets
- $372,548
- Liabilities
- $1,615
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Alissa Smith (President)
People named in this filing
- Connie Hammond (Director)
- Mike Smalz (Director)
- Chris Naegele (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
Advocate with and for immigrants and workers living in Central Ohio
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, we supported 160 people with workplace concerns. Our network of alliances has expanded significantly, now encompassing at least 33 community organizations, educational institutions, unions and faith-based groups united in the pursuit of workers' rights and social justice. Advocated for passage of the Paystub Protection Act, against the e-verification mandate, supported Issue 1 on the ballet and shared information on voting rights and access. On a national scale we shared information and actions to our members on the Heat Protection and LETS protect workers legislation, as well as signing on in support of these as an organization. Through outreach initiatives, we have trained hundreds of workers to seek legal assistance and gain confidence to advocate for themselves. We hosted and participated in over 60 events in 2024, specifically providing Know Your Rights trainings for at least 560 people. Additionally, at least 450 Know Your Rights handbooks were distributed. We did this through events we hosted, such as our annual May Day event, as well as by participating in local events, such as Avenue for All, Comfest, Somali Fest, and participating in coalitions such as EMPLEO. Published and distributed 4 volumes of our legislative update newsletters. Formed an advisory committee with 15 members from local and national leaders in Worker Rights advocacy, legal experts, and working people on the frontlines.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 83% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.8%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $107.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.6%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 46.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 33.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 77.8% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $281K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.