SODO Business Improvement Area

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471278728
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2069819877
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Neighborhood, Block Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,290,008
Expenses
$2,374,578
Assets
$712,284
Liabilities
$280,923

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Todd Biesold (President)
  • Wil Lavaris (Vice President)
  • Erin Goodman (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Erin Goodman (Executive Director): $231,238 total reported compensation
  • Lauren Lunberg (Deputy Director): $122,987 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enhance transportation, safety, and cleanliness for the benefit of property owners, tenants, businesses, patrons and employees of the SODO area of Seattle.

What it reported doing in 2024

Clean & Safe SODO: Contract for services to maintain a clean environment for SODO businesses, employees and visitors. 2024 services included a contract for bi-weekly street sweeping and a contract to conduct quarterly sidewalk cleanings including illegal dumping removal. In 2024, they pressure washed 250 blocks and removed 3,245 graffiti tags within our boundaries. Additionally, over 530 tons of debris were removed through our contracted service providers. Supported graffiti prevention through funding for public art. Contracted with the Seattle Police Department to provide over 3,100 hours of additional off-duty patrols to address chronic crime and nuisance issues in SODO. (Continued on Schedule O)Partnered with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance on a Tire Turn-in Event to prevent illegal dumping of tires. We also contracted Street Plus for homeless outreach in our geographical district to help identify opportunities for those living unhoused.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 11%; rating input score 11; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -3.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.4% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $231K · 19 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $576K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 31 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.