Northwest Associated Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911286578
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2063877285
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$576,839
Expenses
$385,560
Assets
$406,817
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Alana Hakamada (President)
  • Katie Knowles (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ryan Ellis (Executive Dir.): $48,637 total reported compensation
  • Virginia Wright (Admin. Director): $15,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provides performances that enliven, enrich, entertain and educate members and audiences alike. Members are energized by an environment that fosters bonds of community, serving and respecting people of all ages, cultures and ethnic groups.

What it reported doing in 2024

NWAA successfully completed its 41st concert season. Annual Dinner/Auction was held in person and raised more than $60,000 in its seventeenth iteration. Artistic Director Dr. Ryan Ellis completed his eleventh year with our adult chorus, and continues to develop the musical skills of the ensemble. Dr. Ellis also took on the new role of Executive Director for the organization. Our senior chorus SilverSounds Northwest was able to keep members engaged for an exciting season of concerts and outreach performances. We added Dr. Tyler Todd Kimmel as Director for newly reformed TeenSounds choir. We supported nine adults with full or partial financial aid for their participation in our choirs. All of our ensembles produced live performances that were well attended.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.9%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $214.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 33.2%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.9% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $349K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $49K · 17 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.