Progressive Animal Welfare Society Aka PAWS
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 916073154
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA, USA
- Phone
- 4257872500
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $18,325,910
- Expenses
- $8,659,752
- Assets
- $64,024,178
- Liabilities
- $649,535
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Heidi-Wills Yamada (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Phi Nguyen (CFO & COO): $207,231 total reported compensation
- Heidi-Wills Yamada (CEO): $183,707 total reported compensation
- Nichole Rosenhagen (Wildlife Vet): $151,601 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
A champion for animals since 1967, PAWS is a nationally recognized leader - rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife, sheltering and adopting homeless cats and dogs, and educating people to make a better world for animals and people.
What it reported doing in 2024
Wildlife Services - Dedicated to helping wild animals return to the wild, PAWS Wildlife Center rehabilitates injured and orphaned wild animals from the state of Washington and beyond. PAWS cares for over 3,367 wild animals each year, with a focus on rehabilitating native species. PAWS partners with a variety of federal, state, and local agencies, as well as private landowners, for the release of wild animals back to the wild once rehabilitated. PAWS Wildlife Center also serves as a resource for people, offering educational training programs to future professionals in wildlife medicine and rehabilitation, assisting the community with humane solutions to wildlife conflicts, and responding to concerns about injured and orphaned wild animals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 49
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 83
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 35.9%; rating input score 36
- Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 52.7%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.39; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 35.9% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $6.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $207K · 29 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.3M reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.