Skookum Kids

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471968315
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone
3603753380
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,861,452
Expenses
$1,986,422
Assets
$1,349,034
Liabilities
$166,762

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ray Deck III (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ray Deck III (President and CEO): $168,946 total reported compensation
  • Abby Smith (Program Director): $120,635 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To mobilize communities in support of kids and families impacted by foster care.

What it reported doing in 2025

Camp Skookum - As part of Skookum's commitment to reunification, we host an annual three-day-long camp experience for reunified parents & children to celebrate the monumental accomplishment of putting their family back together. Camp is a place to make friends and build community around a shared experience with foster care. There is a combination of skill-building opportunities, group therapeutic experiences, and most importantly, tons of fun! 18 families participated in 2025, 10 for the first time. Last year we celebrated multiple sobriety milestones with parents who are doing what they must to care well for their children.Skookum Family Partnership Some families are best served by supportive in-home services rather than traditional removal/placement foster care. These evidence-based interventions maintain child safety and build family stability while preserving and strengthening parent-child relationships. For every dollar invested in these interventions an impressive $1,500 of public benefit is created.

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.
  • 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.