Seafair Charitable Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830783366
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2067280123
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,442,206
Expenses
$4,183,539
Assets
$2,806,167
Liabilities
$965,149

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EMILY CANTRELL (PRESIDENT/CEO START SEPTEMBER 1)
  • ERIC CORNING (CEO END SEPTEMBER 25)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIC CORNING (CEO END SEPTEMBER 25): $140,407 total reported compensation
  • KAREN KOMOTO (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMIN): $115,678 total reported compensation
  • LAUREN CARTER (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING): $109,528 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Seafair's mission is to create memorable experiences for the people of puget sound through fun, inclusive, and relevant events. We connect people with communities, and communities with memorable experiences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Seafair promotes social, cultural and community activities in the greater seattle area. The seafair mission is creating memories, providing affordable fun and uniting communities. Seafair produces three major events in the city of seattle where there is a free component to each event making it accessible for all to participate. The events include seafair summer 4th, torchlight parade and the seafair weekend festival. Seafair engages with 30 community events, festivals and parades reaching king and snohomish counties.

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 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.1%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 48.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 47.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 35% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $140K · 27 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.