Northwest Hydroelectric Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930805859
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone
5035027262
Rating
43
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$790,001
Expenses
$582,742
Assets
$1,105,733
Liabilities
$254,724

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NATHAN ROCKWOOD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRENNA VAUGHN (EXECUTIVE DI): $173,352 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 hydroelectric association (nwha) purpose: we unite passionate hydropower leaders through knowledge sharing and collaborative networking, so that together we are the recognized authority on hydropower for our northwest communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Annual conference. This event occurs every february within the northwest and includes speaker presentations to the membership and non-member attendees. Cost include the hotel, audio/visual, show decorator, and refreshments to implement the activity. There were 593 attendees participating in the 2026 conference.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 53.9%; rating input score 54; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.9; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $173K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 10 of 12 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.