Helping Link

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201988027
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
Renton, WA, USA
Phone
2066505882
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$302,762
Expenses
$197,834
Assets
$1,064,544
Liabilities
$1,990

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Minh-Duc Nguyen (Executive Director)
  • Hao Duong (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Minh-Duc Nguyen (Executive Director): $125,517 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Helping Link's mission is to empower Vietnamese-Americans through social adjustment, family stability, and self-sufficiency while nurturing community service and youth leaders. We provide our clients with information and referral services so that everyone might have fair and proper access to the city's resources. We build cultural competence and community through our ESL, citizenship, and digital literacy courses that help our clients acclimate to their new lives in Seattle.

What it reported doing in 2024

Technology and Digital Literacy Program: Focused primarily on computers and iPad use, this course meets twice a week to instruct clients on basic technology use in order to help clients develop skills needed for employment opportunities. The course also teaches clients to use technology and social media to maintain communication, navigate around the city, and stay connected with their community. Our clients are given new means to assimilate to their new home. This, along with the relationships forged amongst clients and volunteers, helps build confidence and prevent the isolation common to immigrant communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.9%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 34.7%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.38; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 63.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.9% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $156K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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 55/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.