Portland Chinatown History Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465386229
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032240008
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$281,728
Expenses
$363,745
Assets
$3,111,246
Liabilities
$2,304,990

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HARRIS MATARAZZO (PRESIDENT)
  • ANNA TRUXES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNA TRUXES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $36,750 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Portland chinatown history foundation's mission is to honor, preserve, and interpret the history and rich cultural heritage of portland's historic chinatowns.

What it reported doing in 2025

Inner village, an installation by artist limei lai, explored thememories and ideas carried by immigrant women across generations, using art to unearth that inheritance and ease its weight. The exhibition closed in 2025 and was presented in collaboration with the Oregon community foundation creative heights.xrchive: (hi) stories and visions of block 14 at lone fir cemetery continued as an ongoing augmented storytelling project in collaboration with ceti lab, inviting visitors to engage with immersive histories of portland's early chinese community.continued on schedule o.what's worth the fight: the history of the slants closed but the partnership with the slants foundation continued to anchor programming with the slants foundation studio at pcm, the museum's space for community-based podcasting, video, and cultural storytelling; along side plans for the debut of their musical "at the edge of chinatown and their performance at the lny.hidden histories ii kicked off pcm's new legacy keepers focus, developed when thinking of the work that community members like dan kee do. He is the great-nephew of bue kee. The project kicked off with his presentation as a hidden histories panelist and deepened community understanding of the emotional, financial, and physical burden carried by families and individuals who preserve endangered histories, and laid the groundwork for legacy keepers to become a major permanent program at the museum supporting those who safeguard histories that might otherwise be lost.pcm also expanded its educator resources with a new k-8 notebook companion to the permanent exhibition beyond the gate, which tells the story of chinese immigrants and their descendants in Oregon. The notebook offers kid-friendly word searches, mapping exercises, and other accessible activities. It was developed by mehira lozano, pcm's first nathan mathieu tong memorial scholar, alongside educator docent mike wong and director of programming kapi'olani lee, and was introduced at a public reception. A cover illustration by artist tommy ly gives the notebook lasting value as a keepsake from a school-age visitor's trip to the museum.through these projects, pcm continued to amplify asian american voices, support new creation, and build bridges between art, history, and technology--fulfilling its mission to preserve, celebrate, and reimagine the legacies of portland's chinatown.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% 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 - 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: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 45.2%; rating input score 45
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -29.1%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.55; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59% of revenue deployed · 45.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $165K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.