New Roots Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383885237
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Auburn, WA, USA
Phone
2063233152
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$610,524
Expenses
$582,176
Assets
$1,087,870
Liabilities
$784,498

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Greg Hope (~ Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Greg Hope (~ Executive Director): $115,700 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 New Roots Fund helps low-income individuals, citizens and legal immigrants, to achieve economic self-sufficiency through business loans and technical business assistance. The NRF continues to run programs funded by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, King County, and Washington State to train refugees in business practices, support the development of business plans, and assist with capitalizing new or existing businesses through Individual Development Accounts (matched savings programs) and loans. The New Roots Fund helps refugees, asylees, and low-income individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency. The Fund accomplishes this by providing business capital and technical assistance. Formed in 2011 and associated with the Diocese of Olympia, NRF is an independent 501(c)3. Our mission is to create viable businesses in low income neighborhoods through a highly capable lending institution providing loans and business technical assistance.

What it reported doing in 2024

OVERALL PROGRAM. The New Roots Fund (NRF) helps low-income individuals, citizens and legal immigrants, to achieve economic self-sufficiency through business loans and technical business assistance. The NRF continues to run programs funded by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, King County, and Washington State to train refugees in business practices, support the development of business plans, and assist with capitalizing new or existing businesses through Individual Development Accounts (matched savings programs) and loans. In 2024, the NRF enrolled 107 clients who received 856 hours of training. Our comprehensive training programs provide clients with essential knowledge and skills to successfully enter and sustain a business. Notably, all 40 loan recipients from this period have launched or expanded their businesses and are consistently meeting their loan repayment schedules. The NRF also assisted eighteen businesses with training and nine with capitalization. The NRF committed $162,500 for FY 2024, for matched savings accounts and fully disbursed by the end of 2024. Over 40 individual savings plans were developed to support micro-enterprise purchases after a savings period of at least six months. In addition, 12 individuals saved for vehicles, while seven saved for educational expenses. All participants successfully completed financial skills training, asset specific training and the purchase of assets.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $56.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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; 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: 4.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.87; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $535K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $386K reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • 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: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.