Oregon Community Foundation

Legal name: The Oregon Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237315673
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Portland, OR, United States
Phone
(503) 227-6846
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$293,651,949
Expenses
$223,460,179
Assets
$3,317,661,859
Liabilities
$68,131,523

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lisa Mensah (CEO/Asst Secretary/Treasurer)
  • Marcy Bradley (Vice President of Equity and Culture)
  • Nancy Bales (Executive Director - Gray Family Foundation)
  • Stephanie Swanson (Vice President of Communications)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lisa Mensah (CEO/Asst Secretary/Treasurer): $690,765 total reported compensation
  • Erica D Daley (Assistant Secretary/CFO): $476,855 total reported compensation
  • Marcy Bradley (Vice President of Equity and Culture): $350,313 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to improve the lives of all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. As a statewide community foundation we work alongside donors, stewarding their priorities into strategic giving to support diverse communities across Oregon, creating lasting, transformative change. Our Mission: To improve the lives of all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. WISE STEWARDSHIP** : We believe in wise stewardship of OCF assets, faithful adherence to our donors’ intentions, and effective investment in our communities. EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION:** We believe in advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in our work to fulfill our mission and achieve our vision. SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY:** We believe in a culture of service and leadership promoting individual potential, a spirit of community and a better future for all Oregonians.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation administers charitable funds and makes grants from those funds for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes, primarily in the State of Oregon. In 2024 OCF: -Made grants totaling $174.0 million to approximately 3500 nonprofit organizations including grants that support Foundation initiatives that focus on strengthening leaders and organizations in the Latino community, promoting youth philanthropy, advancing housing solutions, and connecting Oregonians with learning opportunities from early childhood through higher education. -Assisted approximately 2,164 students with scholarship awards totaling $10.1 million -Administered over 3,636 existing charitable funds; established 117 new funds -Provided educational opportunities for donors, professional advisors, and not-for-profit organizations to learn about philanthropy, grantmaking, endowment building, community issues, and related topics

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $68.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.3%; rating input score 98; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.85; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $201M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $691K · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.2M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2157 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2085 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.