Issaquah Cultural Circle
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 872582353
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
- Location
- Issaquah, WA, USA
- Phone
- 4254144999
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Cultural Exchange
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $241,931
- Expenses
- $245,321
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $28,826
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
1 person listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Alicia Spinner (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Alicia Spinner (Executive Director): $30,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Circle provides a safe space where individuals and families are empowered to gain knowledge, celebrate their cultures, and engage with their communities. The Circle advocates to reduce barriers for individuals and families by identifying their needs and making them feel welcome and connected so they are able to participate fully in their communities. We welcome individuals and families new to the country, as well as those who are already established in the community. Collaborating together, we provide personal support and identify their needs. We present available resources and services, and according to their needs we provide walk-along service or a referral to community resources and services, and guide them through processes. We offer help to find rental assistance, counseling, insurance, tax preparation, legal services, domestic violence or senior aid, among others. We are also a source for emergent help when necessary.
What it reported doing in 2024
Over 2700 Individuals served in 2024. 1) Community Navigation: We connect individuals and families to existing and new services to help them navigate the experience of living in their communities. All our services are free of charge, and we have created a safe space for individuals and families to meet with us. We offer one-on-one meetings with a flexible schedule based on their availability. We also organize workshops focused on the specific information needs of this group, including topics related to employment, student resources, home ownership, and mental health resources. In 2024, we provided over 1429 hours of Community Navigation services. We added additional Community Navigators who speak Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic. The most frequent navigation service we provided was helping people meet basic needs by applying for assistance with food, clothing, rent, or utilities. 2) Education: The Circle provides access to education to bridge the gap for individuals and families to acquire the necessary knowledge to become active participants in their community. Classes include English and other languages, computer and technology, leadership, arts/culture, and parenting. For adults, we offer English as a Second Language classes. At the end of each quarter, we help transfer students who already feel more comfortable to take ESL classes at the college; we also help all of them to understand the opportunities they have to study a technical degree. Oftentimes our educational offerings are multi-generational, such as music classes for toddlers, during which at the same time our Community Navigation team can meet with parents, grandparents, and/or other caregivers. In 2024, we provided over 500 hours of educational classes. 3) Cultural Circles: The Circle provides space and support for cultural groups to meet and develop personal connections. These include the Latino Circle, Chinese Circle, Indian Heritage Circle, Arabic Circle, Pakistani Circle, and Russian Circle. We also have a Teen Circle and the Inclusive Circle, which supports children and teens of all abilities. In addition, we support events that are open and free to all to come together as a community to learn, celebrate, and understand each other's diversity. Special events include Lunar New Year, Day of the Dead, Senior Celebration, Children's Day, Diwali, Colombian Kite Festival, Eid Mubarak Celebration, Tai Chi demonstration, and Ukrainian Pysanky Egg decorating. To avoid cultural appropriation and to recognize the invaluable gift that the diverse community members bring to our cities, events are community-led and designed, with support by The Circle staff. In 2024, The Circle supported over 116 hours of cultural meetings and events.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 84% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 48% for direct work, and 52% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: -1.4%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 125.4% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -200% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 1 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.