The Safe Sisters Circle

Legal name: Safe Sisters Circle

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
825194511
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2022
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Washington, DC, US
Phone
(202) 365-5251
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$911,188
Expenses
$704,656
Assets
$672,683
Liabilities
$34,573

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • XANDY MCKINLEY (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALANA BROWN (Executive Dir.): $121,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Safe Sisters Circle provides a holistic, community-based approach to support Black women and girl survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse in Washington DC, using a culturally specific, trauma-informed lens.

What it reported doing in 2022

During the 20222023 fiscal year, the organization served survivors through its Victim Services sub-program, offering care that included crisis intervention, safety planning, legal advocacy, and essential services to 75 survivors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.3%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 67.7%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 22.7%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.95; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 51.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 41.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 63.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 52.3% of revenue deployed · 67.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $477K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2020 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 52/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.