Red Nation Celebration

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954015181
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
Phone
8186655753
Rating
55
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$523,317
Expenses
$285,103
Assets
$1,133,185
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOANELLE ROMERO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOANELLE ROMERO (PRESIDENT): $22,636 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Red Nation Celebration is the longest standing, and largest indigenous women-led native arts & cultural nonprofit, in the city of Los Angeles, traditional territory of the Tongva nation, representing over 530 nations across Indian Country. The authentic voice of American Indian and Indigenous storytellers. Our mission is in promoting, advancing, advocating, and empowering independent filmmakers, media artists, and content creators, with an emphasis on initiatives for native women and youth, in all media platforms, in conjunction with partners from around the world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% 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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.7%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th 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: Limited
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Missing
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.5%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.97; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 75% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 40.7% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $213K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $23K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.