Friends of Third Place Commons

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912054524
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Kenmore, WA, USA
Phone
2063663302
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Recreational Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$249,302
Expenses
$237,220
Assets
$279,859
Liabilities
$12,763

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Amy Whittenburg (Director): $43,485 total reported compensation
  • Silje Sodal (Director): $36,680 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enrich and foster real community in real space by facilitating free public events in the Commons; sponsoring the local farmers market; and partnering with civic, arts, and social service entities to help maximize their impact.

What it reported doing in 2024

COMMUNITY EVENTS: Third Place Commons hosts hundreds of free community events each year including performances by local school bands/orchestras, music and dance studios, and community groups. Events also include community fairs (e.g., green fairs, safety and preparedness, etc.), crafts fairs, informational and educational forums (e.g., candidate forums, social issues, etc.), and other unique offerings. Events held both in-person and virtually via Zoom. Weekly and monthly programs included foreign language conversation groups, book and movie clubs, art-ins, and more. All events at the Commons are free of charge.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 22nd 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: 4.8%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.8% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $185K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.