Northwest Autism Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571138106
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Spokane, WA, USA
Phone
5093281582
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arthritis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,213,811
Expenses
$3,346,096
Assets
$285,342
Liabilities
$321,655

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dawn Sidell (Executive Director)
  • Lara L Hemingway (President)
  • Kristin Schimmels (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dawn Sidell (Executive Director): $161,874 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Formed in 2002, Northwest Autism Center exists to build, facilitate, and coordinate comprehensive services for those with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities through the lifespan, using community-based approaches.

What it reported doing in 2024

Intensive ABA Services - Provides intensive applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment for children in compliance with Health Care Authority guidelines and regulations. Children receiving intensive clinical services are ages 2 through 5. In-home services are provided to children through age 21. Clinic sessions are 3 hours per day, 4 days per week and provide for 48 treatment days per child. In-home services are determined by individual assessment. Each child enrolled receives a thorough evaluation and individualized service plan prior to initiating services. Clinic components include a minimum of three hours a week of caregiver education and training, comprehensive care coordination, embedded speech and language services, as well as extensive transition planning and services. The clinic also provides hands-on supervised training opportunities for those seeking Board Certification in ABA.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $37.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -4.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.13; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 8 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.