Highlands Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
450517122
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Issaquah, WA, USA
Phone
4255071107
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeowners & Tenants Associations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,227,044
Expenses
$883,170
Assets
$2,960,607
Liabilities
$28,656

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KASHIF ZAHOOR (PRESIDENT)
  • LISA SOBASLEI (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LINDSEY PINKSTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LINDSEY PINKSTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $150,579 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Highlands council will make a difference by creating a legacy of community that will last for generations. The council will accomplish this by fostering the development of a vibrant and caring community committed to service, diversity, and well-being.

What it reported doing in 2024

Communications: highlands council manages all the official communications for the issaquah highlands community. Communication management includes issaquahhighlands.com, blakelyhall.com, the quarterly connections newspaper, weekly e-letter, and official social media presence. Connections news is a very important outreach tool for our mission of building community at highlands council. Connections news provides opportunities for community involvement, sponsorship by local businesses, awareness of governmental affairs, media support for our community partner non-profits in the area, promotion of our own programming that is mostly free and open to the public and branding of our community as the most desirable place to live, work and play! We average 10-15 volunteer writers and contributing photographers annually. Writing and photography are also wonderful ways for the teens of our community to build writing skills, get published, and create a portfolio for those important college applications! We love our volunteer writers; they lend credibility to the content we publish because they are told by a neighbor.highlands council seeks to keep our readers engaged civically. Our staff follows closely issues around land development, public transportation, traffic and community safety, environmental issues, and education. We attend city council and school board meetings and report back what we learned and how it impacts community life in issaquah highlands. We are careful not to tell our readers what to think but provide the facts so our readers can form their own opinions and know when public forum opportunities exist to engage our local elected officials. Newsprint may be a dying industry, but connections news is a highly desired publication in our area. Connections news continues to be recognized by neighborhoods USA as a top community newsletter in the country!

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.8%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

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: 28%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.35; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.8% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $595K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 8 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.