Sound Salmon Solutions

What it reported doing in 2024

Education and hatchery programs: our hatchery located at the willow creek salmon and watershed education center raised 80,000 coho salmon which were then released into 9 local tributaries within lake Washington and puget sound watersheds. Volunteers helped with every stage of the salmon rearing process, giving over 1892 hours in the year 2024.in 2024, sss engaged 7226 youth and adults in lessons that forged a connection between the community and salmon recovery while empowering participants to make positive changes for the future of pacific salmon.our salmon in schools program brought coho salmon to 26 schools where students raised them from the egg to fry stage while learning the importance of salmon to our ecosystem, economy, and culture in Washington. Students then joined sss educators on a field trip where they released their salmon into a local stream.sss partnered with the snohomish county juvenile court to provide the youth exploring stream science (yess) program. Yess engages youth from the scjc diversion program in meaningful and hands-on watershed science experiences. Youth who qualify for diversion programs have been charged with a crime and sentenced to detention, however, due to the low risk of re-offense, have been given the option to complete community-based service learning with sss. This program has been a wonderful success as we have seen students who had the 'too cool for school' persona blossom into budding scientists, full of knowledge about salmon and their habitat. Sss hosted a summer camp at the hatchery in edmonds where campers spent time outside learning about their local environment and how they can be stewards for their communities. 3 weeks of camp were offered in 2024, hosting 58 campers total. Several local schools and scout troops also visited the hatchery for outdoor field trips reaching over 6336 youth.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 72%; rating input score 72
• Program expense ratio: 72.9%; rating input score 73
• Fundraising efficiency: $3,185.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th 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: 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: Fail
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 1.4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings