The Thunderbird Community Sports Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261712275
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Kent, WA, USA
Phone
2063694872
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$302,978
Expenses
$381,939
Assets
$325,798
Liabilities
$97,895

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RUSS FARWELL (President)
  • BRENDA FARWELL (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • RUSS FARWELL (President)
  • RICK RONISH (Director)
  • COLIN CAMPBELL (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The thunderbird community sports foundation promotes good health, physical education, and academic achievement by providing scholarships and grants for amateur athletes in the puget sound region, as well as providing grants to local youth and amateur sports associations.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation's only programs are operating a 50/50 raffle and a jersey raffle at the home games of the seattle thunderbirds hockey team. The money is collected from the sale of raffle tickets, with the winner of the 50/50 raffle taking 50% of the proceeds, and the winner of the jersey raffle winning a jersey. The foundation keeps the balance of the funds collected to defray the costs of operations and then distributes the remainder to the community in the form of grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -26.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $372K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.