Innovations Human Trafficking Collaborative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814680515
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Olympia, WA, USA
Phone
8332010940
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,115,552
Expenses
$1,176,294
Assets
$195,701
Liabilities
$18,367

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Samantha Gilbertson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Samantha Gilbertson (Executive Director): $95,000 total reported compensation
  • Natalie Gomez: $61,360 total reported compensation
  • Chelsea Keefe: $61,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Engaging first responders, tribes, and other stakeholders in eliminating human trafficking through solution-based knowledge and trauma-informed strategies. Empowering survivors to heal and build self-sufficient affirming lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

ASAP Grant - (Federal) OVC FY 2023 Services for Victims of Human Trafficking, SSTAR Project Phase 2: Focusing on root causes of vulnerability, recognizing race, gender identity, religion and culture play important roles in combating trafficking. The South Sound Training, Advocacy, and Response (SSTAR) Project by Innovations HTC aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of services for victims of human trafficking (HT). The primary goal is to support victims in achieving greater independence, self-sufficiency, safety, and well-being. SSTAR collaborates with federal, state, and local law enforcement, service providers, human trafficking task forces, and community-based organizations to establish effective partnerships and comprehensive response protocols. These efforts ensure that victims of human trafficking are accurately identified and referred to appropriate support services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 93% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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 most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 65%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.4%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 32.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 65% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $764K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $114K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.