Choosing Our Roots

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823583339
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone
9077646233
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Lesbian, Gay Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$598,341
Expenses
$621,939
Assets
$1,093,950
Liabilities
$454,733

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Laura Reijns (Co-Executive Director Operations)
  • Andrew Harnish (Vice President)
  • Adam Lees (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Laura Reijns (Co-Executive Director Operations): $109,931 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Choosing Our Roots is to ensure that all queer Alaskan youth & young adults have access to safe home, supportive communities, and opportunities to thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Housing and Case Management for LGBTQ Homeless Youth - Provided direct services to youth participants, including host home placement, bridge housing, intensive case managment, material assistance, and wraparound supports to meet individual needs. Advocacy for Homeless LGBTQ Youth within the broader Continuim of Care - the organization continued to offer systemic advocacy and meaningful interventions into community collaborations, in order to increase the prevalence and qualtiy of culturally relevent supports for LGBTQ youth who experience homelessness in Alaska. This included active participation in the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Projects, the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, the Mat-Su Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, and various other local coalitions, as well as direct advocacy with other youth-serving agencies in the communities served. Youth Emplowerment, Mentorship, and Leadership Development - Stipends ($ 25/monthly meeting) provided to youth who serve on the Organizations Board of Directors. Several other youth participated in organizational committees to develop programming and hire staff; represented organization at local, regional, and national events, presentations and trainings; provided leadership in peer group activities, participated in media outreach activities; and were match with volunteer mentors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 76% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $623.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 13th 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.9%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.76; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $581K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 28 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • 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.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.