Pacific Northwest College of Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931139187
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5038218910
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,274,890
Expenses
$28,943,797
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER MAPLES (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID ELLIS (INTERIM PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNE GALLAGHER (CFO AND COO): $160,100 total reported compensation
  • CANDACE HORTER (VP OF ADVANCEMENT): $158,245 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER MAPLES (PRESIDENT): $146,152 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of pnca is to prepare students for a life of creative practice. The intent is to transform students into knowledgeable, articulate, practicing artists and designers with the ability to significantly contribute in original ways to the ongoing dialogue in art that shapes our culture.

What it reported doing in 2020

Master of fine arts program - a two year program that is multi-disciplinary and mentor based. The structure compliments pnca's educational philosophy of supporting independent inquiry and encouraging cross-disciplinary dialogue. The students benefit from a dynamic national and international roster of visiting artists and designers. A low residency master of fine arts program was implemented in 2011-12 and allows students an extended period of time of three to four years to conduct their degree program in visual studies. The program provides not only the same curricular rigor as the full-time program, but also offers students opportunities to work in the summer in a focused manner on perfection of their art using studio-based studies.master of arts program - an accelerated seminar-based program that prepares students for opportunities at the intersection of art, theory, and research. Students complete work within one calendar year. The rigorous program is designed to train students in critical theory, research design and methods, cultural and institutional critique, and ethics so students develop skills and modes of thinking that cross the between the visual and verbal, linear and nonlinear, digital and analog, and theory and practice.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 85% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -6.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.6% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $24M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $160K · 27 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $829K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.