Northwest Environmental Advocates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237421080
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$85,631
Expenses
$87,844
Assets
$251,713
Liabilities
$876

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nina Bell (Executive Director Board Member)

People named in this filing

  • Nina Bell (Executive Director Board Member)
  • Chris Noble (Board Chair)
  • Eugene Rosolie (Board Treasurer)

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

Work through advocacy and education to use federal environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act to protect and restore water quality and habit in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide.

What it reported doing in 2024

Regional Clean Water Program. NWEA uses state and federal laws in Oregon Washington and Idaho to reduce water pollution. The goal of our work is to protect public health and aquatic life including but not limited to threatened and endangered species such as salmon orcas and amphibians. Because so many aspects of the Clean Water Act are ignored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states we seek to improve the implementation of this law. Generally activities of this program include the following: 1 submitting public comments to agencies on regulatory proposals; 2 assisting members of the public who are seeking information on how to protect water quality and habitat; 3 obtaining and analyzing documents from agencies through the Freedom of Information Act FOIA and state public records laws; 4 bringing enforcement cases against agencies and polluters; and 5 general outreach and education through website newsletter emails etc. NWEA seeks to ensure that s

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 92.7%; rating input score 93

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.87; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.3% of revenue deployed · 92.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 5 filed program accomplishments · $81K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.