Somali American Council of Oregon

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
320338616
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
(503) 719-7679
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Promotion of International Understanding

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,760,892
Expenses
$1,901,137
Assets
$624,785
Liabilities
$33,784

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MUSSE OLOL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MUSSE OLOL (PRESIDENT): $80,215 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

SACOO's mission is to empower the Somali community by enhancing relationships between members of the community and between the community and state wide and/or federal agencies while also promoting cultural expression and diversity.

What it reported doing in 2024

HEALTH AUTHORITY- TOBACCO: In 2024-2025, with the support of the Public Health Equity grant, SACOO (Somali American Council of Oregon) significantly expanded its commercial tobacco prevention efforts, focusing on culturally responsive community outreach, education, and youth engagement. Our work centered on preventing tobacco use, especially the growing issue of e-cigarette and hookah/shisha consumption among youth and underserved communities. This report highlights our achievements, community impact, partnerships, and activities carried out from July through June 2025. - Community Events & Outreach; - Hosted 7 culturally tailored tobacco prevention events that brought together youth, parents, and community leaders. Events included interactive educational activities and presentations focusing on the dangers o tobacco and e-cigarette use. - Strengthened collaboration with key partners, including David Douglas School District, to promote tobacco-free environments and co-host prevention programming. - Supported policy change efforts, promoted best practices in tobacco prevention, and worked to build a sustainable movement for tobacco-free living. Collaborated with Co-imagine health tobacco free illustration campaign. - Increased Activity & Reach: Organized 20 impactful events, including major community gatherings, focusing on the risks of shisha, hookah, and flavored tobacco products. About 50 to 200 community members reached. Youth Engagement: Increased participation in all-age events, especially among middle and high school students. Partnerships Expanded: Schools, community-based organizations, and local leaders. Surveys Conducted: Data gathered to inform future program development. Featured in a culturally relevant PowerPoint presentation on tobacco risks, followed by a community health speaker. The event included a Q&A session that sparked thoughtful discussion and community engagement on cessation strategies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 76% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.