Low Income Housing Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943155150
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, US
Phone
2064439935
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$108,602,261
Expenses
$79,209,884
Assets
$490,121,194
Liabilities
$285,737,809

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELINDA NICHOLS (PRESIDENT)
  • CATHY DANIGELIS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SHARON LEE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHARON LEE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $350,035 total reported compensation
  • LYNNE BEHAR (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $213,754 total reported compensation
  • RALPH NEIS (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS AND OPERATIONS): $177,216 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

LIHI is rooted in a commitment to advocacy for low-income and homeless people.

What it reported doing in 2024

Shelter program - technical assistance, management assistance, advocacy, case management, and fundraising for over 2,400 homeless people living in tents, tiny houses at 19 villages, and 5 enhanced shelters.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 68% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $113.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 41.8%; rating input score 42; 9th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.1%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.19; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 67.8% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $73.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $350K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $24.9M reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 30 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 38 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 — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.