Magic Canoe

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852100120
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
2516809819
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$376,820
Expenses
$364,617
Assets
$1,211,200
Liabilities
$66,019

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lisa Watt (Interim Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lisa Watt (Interim Executive Director): $120,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Magic Canoe is a champion of a reimagined future that is driven by local-based bottom-up regenerative solutions for a more equitable and healthier bioregion that is Salmon Nation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Magic Canoe uses digital storytelling to share ideas and ways of seeing thinking acting and reconnecting with the places we call home and each other. This is done by uplifting the stories and voices of determined individuals doing remarkable work around systems change and climate solutions throughout the bioregion from central California to the North Slope of Alaska. Narrative sectors include Environment Salmon Indigenous Leadership and New Economies and stories that promote replicable and scalable solutions to the polycrisis.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 20th 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; 64th 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: 3.2%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.32; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 38.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $286K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 43 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX FeesForServicesAccounting column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.