Seafair Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910557448
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2067280123
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fairs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,903,880
Expenses
$4,526,077
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD ANDERSEN (PRESIDENT AN)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIC CORNING (EXECUTIVE DI): $156,210 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD ANDERSEN (PRESIDENT AN): $74,308 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Seafair promotes social, cultural and community activities in the greater seattle area. The seafair mission is creating memories, providing affordable fun and uniting communities.

What it reported doing in 2019

Seafair has grown over 70 years into a ten-week long summer festival that includes eight signature events and over 30 other sanctioned events that reach more than 2 million people. We bring the community together through a series of events that appeal to a wide range of ages and cultures. Events include seattle summer 4th which is seattle's citywide 4th of july celebration, including music and games and seattle's only professionally produced fireworks show, a triathlon, milk carton boat races that include all ages and different group categories, the torchlight parade and torchlight run in downtown seattle where cultural diversity is celebrated with each parade entry and the culminating signature event, seafair weekend festival. The seafair weekend festival has entertainment and activities on and above lake Washington that include hydroplane races and wakeboarding as well as an airshow featuring the navy blue angels. Other entertainment at the festival includes music, bmx bike demonstrations, exhibitor and food booths and a children's activity area. The festival allows the seattle area's residents and visitors to come together to share and appreciate all the diverse cultures showcased at the various seafair events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% 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 - 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: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 64th 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.4% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.