Northwest Advocacy Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 813947402
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Seattle, WA, USA
- Phone
- 2068803075
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Legal Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $178,319
- Expenses
- $198,048
- Assets
- $120,879
- Liabilities
- $32,614
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jessica Lewis (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Jessica Lewis (Executive Director)
- Elena Yager (Legal Director)
- Randy DeCoursey (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Northwest Advocacy is a charitable organization located in Seattle, WA, Our primary exempt purpose is to provide quality, affordable legal services to indigent, low-, and moderate-income individuals and those experiencing imminent safety issues. Our clients are folks who typically do not qualify for (or cannot wait for) free civil legal aid, but cannot afford a private attorney. We primarily work with (and prioritize) victims of domestic and sexual violence, assisting with protection orders and family law matters. Our legal services program includes consultation (one-time meetings to answer questions and offer advice), pro se assistance (assisting folks to represent themselves), limited representation (representing folks in one aspect of their case, and full representation (handling an entire case). Our goal is to tailor our services to what each individual needs. We believe that everyone should have access to justice, especially in matters of safety.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our primary program service is to provide quality, affordable legal services to qualifying individuals. In 2024 we were a resource for over 220 people, and provided direct services to over 85 of those people. Without our assistance, the majority of our clients would likely have to represent themselves, navigating an incredibly confusing legal system on their own. Our average hourly rate was 40% of the typical market rate ($140 compared to over $350). We provided over 30 hours of pro bono (free) services to clients - the equivalent of $10,500 at market rate. We are sustained by donations, and in 2024 we raised nearly $20,000. These contributions enabled us to charge clients significantly reduced hourly rates. In 2024 we partnered with Snohomish County Legal Services to accept court-appointed representation of petitioners in civil protection order matters. SCLS screens in-need folks, partners them with attorneys, and pays a reduced hourly rate ($100) for our services. In 2024, we provided over 50 hours of legal services to 10 clients, at no charge to them.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 100
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 21
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -11.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $198K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.