Pongo Publishing Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912114772
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Edmonds, WA, USA
Phone
2068160414
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$255,733
Expenses
$282,771
Assets
$82,198
Liabilities
$34,751

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • NEBEU SHIMELES (CoExec Dir Dev Fin): $90,192 total reported compensation
  • ASHLEY SKARTVEDT (CoExec Director Prgm): $68,536 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pongo teaches and mentors personal poetry to teens who have suffered traumas such as abuse, neglect, ad exposure to violence. To accomplish it's goals, PONGO runs writing programs in dentention centers (Sch O)

What it reported doing in 2024

Pongo provides therapeutic poetry writing programs in detention centers, mental health facilities, homeless shelters, and other sites for youth who have experienced trauma, including abuse, neglect, and exposure to violence and oppression. According to our evaluation, the outcomes of these programs indicate that youth writers are able to address core issues through their lives. Based on the success of our poetry writing programs, and in 2014, we codified our methodology Writing with At-Risk Youth: The Pongo Teen Writing Method. Pongo then established a program to train individuals and organizations on the Pongo method, our evidence-based, trauma-informed technique for poetry mentorship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 56.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $194K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.