The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910282060
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bellevue, WA, USA
Phone
4256410080
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,306,132
Expenses
$14,727,963
Assets
$48,140,216
Liabilities
$2,520,277

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSIE SWISHER SPIERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CHRISTOPHER ROSS (CEO (THROUGH APRIL 2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSIE SWISHER SPIERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $217,969 total reported compensation
  • KRYSTAL PRICE (LEAD VETERINARIAN): $189,448 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER ROSS (CEO (THROUGH APRIL 2024)): $161,643 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

What it reported doing in 2024

Veterinary care includes all shelter medical services as well as veterinary services provided to low-income members of the community through the community medicine and public spay/neuter programs. Seattle humane's veterinary services team provides medical services through the schuler family medical center to every animal that comes through the shelter. Intake exams, vaccinations, surgery, dental extractions, and other medical procedures are provided as part of our routine care. Spay or neuter surgery was performed on every intact dog or cat prior to adoption. (continued in schedule o)in addition to providing care for shelter pets, seattle humane also provided low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, as well as vaccinations and wellness services through the community medicine program for income-qualified pet owners to help keep pets in their homes. Seattle humane is a teaching facility for fourth-year veterinary students from Washington state university's (wsu) college of veterinary medicine. A total of 84 students rotated through the program for the year ended march 31, 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.27; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.