Safety Compass

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812174742
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Silverton, OR, USA
Phone
9712350021
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,499,816
Expenses
$1,148,346
Assets
$1,092,300
Liabilities
$223,855

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ESTHER NELSON-GARRETT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ESTHER NELSON-GARRETT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $100,566 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to offer support for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking, navigating the criminal and social justice systems in the northwest region of Oregon.

What it reported doing in 2025

The mission of safety compass is to offer support for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking navigating the criminal and social justice systems in the northwest region of Oregon. Our trained advocates are available 24/7 to provide crisis intervention & advocacy at the request of law enforcement, department of human services (dhs), and juvenile intake centers to respond to survivors under the age of 25. We have a 24/7 hotline available for all survivors to access immediate support. Continued on schedule o.through a multidisciplinary and culturally responsive approach, we empower survivors to reclaim their lives and access the resources needed for stability and healing. In addition to on-scene and 24/7 crisis response, our advocacy program includes our north star reception center, which is a secure, temporary stay location for survivors awaiting housing placement, staffed by advocates providing immediate safety and support. We also offer stabilization services, connecting survivors with our extensive network of community partners to address their physical, emotional, and legal needs. Advocates provide emotional support and guidance during court proceedings and law enforcement interviews. We remain engaged with survivors as long as they seek support, ensuring continuity of care and trust-building. Alongside these elements of our advocacy programs, safety compass offers our community support phase of programming, where we emphasize resilience-building, fostering an environment where survivors can thrive beyond crisis intervention through long-term relationships. We also provide quarterly support groups and joyful experiences as important spaces for survivors to connect, heal, and participate in educational and empowering activities. In addition to direct advocacy, we offer advanced training and consultation for professionals engaging with survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. Safety compass also provides specialized training and consultation services to improve systemic responses to cse survivors. Our expert trainers are nationally recognized for their trauma-informed and culturally responsive approach. Through these services, we strengthen the capacity of professionals to provide survivor-centered, effective responses that promote safety and justice. In 2025, safety compass served 490 clients and provided 11,479 supportive services encounters to those clients. Safety compass offers training and technical assistance to community partners and other service providers. Safety compass facilitated 61 trainings and trained 1,747 individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

STRONG - 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 87.5%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 23.4%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.95; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.3% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67% of revenue deployed · 87.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.