Northwest Community Bail Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831096468
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Seattle, WA, US
Phone
877-622-6223
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$475,130
Expenses
$844,651
Assets
$3,623,915
Liabilities
$26,628

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Chanel Rhymes (Dir of Advocacy): $109,226 total reported compensation
  • Cyril Walrond (Executive Dir.): $104,890 total reported compensation
  • Molly Mattingly (Dir of Operations): $102,235 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Northwest Community Bail Fund (NCBF) aims to abolish cash bail and pretrial detention. We reduce the harm caused by the cash bail system by posting bail, at no cost, for community members who cannot otherwise afford it, providing them with the opportunity to defend themselves from a position of freedom. NCBF prioritizes bail assistance for our Black, Indigenous, people of color, and LGBTQIA+, particularly transgender, community members: those at greatest risk in our current criminal punishment system.

What it reported doing in 2025

In total we posted $1,739,785 in bail for 610 individuals in pretrial detention across King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties while strengthening our advocacy and volunteer efforts toward systemic change. We have cultivated a robust and dedicated volunteer community committed to immediate harm reduction and advocating for the elimination of the cash bail system, which disproportionately impacts low-income and marginalized communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 40.5%; rating input score 41
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -77.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.29; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -61.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.3% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.4% of revenue deployed · 40.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $342K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.