Tacoma Community Boat Builders Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461724422
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone
2537208703
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,759,490
Expenses
$1,758,044
Assets
$421,085
Liabilities
$112,105

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Melissa Malott JD (President)
  • Shannon A Shea (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shannon A Shea (Executive Director): $103,608 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Tacoma Boat Builders TBB creates transformational opportunities for youth through positive mentorship woodworking and boat building. We pair youth with experienced craftspeople and together they create objects of functional beauty. By providing youth with a safe space to learn and grow including a mentor to learn from youth are given opportunities to build skills find creative outlets and most importantly increase their sense of safety and belonging.

What it reported doing in 2024

Tacoma Boat Builders TBB was founded in 2014 in partnership with Pierce County Juvenile Court as a community-based alternative to traditional juvenile justice responses. Since then TBB has expanded to provide prevention-focused programs for young people ages 12-18 especially those at risk of system involvement. Through a strengths-based approach TBB fosters youth development with an emphasis on early intervention emotional resilience and positive decision-making. The demographics of youth served are reflective of the youth population in Pierce County. TBBs core programs offer hands-on learning opportunities in a fully equipped woodshop and on the water with youth supported by trained mentors and staff. Participants build skills develop self-advocacy and choose personalized activities--from crafting projects to boat-based experiences. Beyond these core offerings TBB provides individualized support for youth facing challenges including housing instability and justice system involvement. When needed TBB connects youth to trusted partner organizations for wraparound services. In 2024-25 TBB served 680 youth across all programs including 135 youth experiencing housing instability or court involvement. Community-based programs engaged an additional 544 children youth as well as approximately 54 adult caregivers at libraries parks and other public spaces. Guided by the Youth Program Quality Initiative YPQI TBB uses data-driven evaluation to ensure continuous improvement. Consistently high youth completion rates 85% overall and strong outcomes 91-100% demonstrate the programs positive impact on skill development connection and personal growth. Through our public facing programs designed for all ages and abilities we served 532 children youth and families. Programs included make and take popups at community events middle schools and libraries. From our facility we provided additional programs for youth families and other youth serving organizations through community boating and an intergenerational building together program. We also staff and support two Canoe Families for the annual Tribal Canoe Journey. These programs are low barrier create access and opportunity for all people in our community and align with tradition and history of our region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 81%; rating input score 81; 35th 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: 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: 0.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $104K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 45 of 47 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.