Downtown Languages

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200646954
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Springfield, OR, USA
Phone
5416868483
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$407,826
Expenses
$256,137
Assets
$192,946
Liabilities
$1,912

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Becky-Jo Samples (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brook Edwards (Executive Dir.): $34,901 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of Downtown Languages (DTL) is to increase opportunities for immigrants and build respect and understanding across cultures by providing language, literacy, and other educational programs.

What it reported doing in 2020

PILAS: Family literacy program: The program is offered in partnership with the Migrant Education Program, Springfield School District and Bethel School District. It is designed to promote early literacy and lifelong learning for spanish speaking families with children under age 13. This program serves 500 people annually.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 most voting board members are independent. 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: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.4%; rating input score 42
  • Program expense ratio: 67.5%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 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: 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: 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: 37.2%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.4% of revenue deployed · 67.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $173K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $35K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2013 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.