Light Collective
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 853842916
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Shoreline, WA, USA
- Phone
- 2067998988
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $352,735
- Expenses
- $314,787
- Assets
- $310,657
- Liabilities
- $4,630
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JJ Kissinger (Executive Director)
- Tom Monahan (President)
- Gretchen VonHeeder-Phillips (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- JJ Kissinger (Executive Director): $107,308 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Creating a hope-oriented community where families who have a child with cancer can build resilience and share delight.
What it reported doing in 2025
Matchbox Program: Every month, TLC hosts a virtual family fun day for families across the Pacific NorthWest who have a child with cancer (on active treatment, or within one year of finishing active treatment). Matchbox Days include a big box of games, activities, snacks, and crafts delivered to each family's door, three opportunities to gather on Zoom (crafts, family games, and a parent and caregiver connection time), and a family dinner via DoorDash voucher. In 2024 we hosted 11 Matchbox Days, delivering a total of 917 boxes, and serving over 200 families across 5 states. The objective of our Matchbox Days is to provide a regular opportunity for families to turn toward one another in their homes and make happy memories together, and also connect with other families who are experiencing childhood cancer. We also hosted three in-person gatherings for families, which included a picnic lunch, family relay games, a carnival, and a special parent gathering. At these gatherings, we served 212 participants and welcomed 157 volunteers. Finally, we hosted two fundraiser events: a springtime Bingo event at a local brewery, and a formal dinner gala in November. We surpassed our fundraising goals at both events.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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 available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th 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; 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: 10.8%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 34.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 29.3% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $243K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.