King County Search and Rescue Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911331555
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Bellevue, WA, USA
Phone
4253010482
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Search and Rescue Squads

Reported finances

Revenue
$583,502
Expenses
$369,365
Assets
$659,864
Liabilities
$33,171

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carrie Lee Gagnon (Executive Director)
  • Nathan Lorance (President)
  • Rafael Ortiz (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Carrie Lee Gagnon (Executive Director): $90,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

KCSARA transforms community volunteerism into professional-grade emergency response. We save lives and protect King County through the expert coordination, training, and equipping of a comprehensive search and rescue network ready for any disaster - backcounty SAR, urban missions, evidence searches, and disaster response capabilities.

What it reported doing in 2025

KCSARA serves as the essential backbone for King Countys volunteer search and rescue network, transforming a coalition of independent units into a unified, professional-grade emergency response system. With over 150 missions annually in King County, the Association ensures that specialized volunteer teams have access to training, equipment, and are strategically coordinated to save lives in both wilderness and urban environments. The strategic investment in an Executive Director has enabled the development of sustainable governance and shared-resource systems that amplify the collective impact of member units while preserving their operational independence. Beyond direct mission support, KCSARA strengthens regional safety through strategic agency partnerships, unified advocacy for the SAR community, and proactive public education aimed at reducing preventable accidents in our rapidly growing region. This evolution ensures that KCSARA is not only meeting current emergency needs but is building the scalable infrastructure required to protect King County for years to come.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.9%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 55%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $192.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 36.7%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.79; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.9% of revenue deployed · 55% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $203K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.