The Washington Bus

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260832933
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2063251889
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voter Education, Registration

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$968,503
Expenses
$508,168
Assets
$647,856
Liabilities
$35,135

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cinthia Illan-Vazquez (Executive Director)
  • Chris Lampkin (President)
  • Bayley Dodd (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cinthia Illan-Vazquez (Executive Director): $126,523 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We empower Washington youth leaders to create sustainable, positive change through advocacy, youth voter turnout, and leadership development programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

YOUTH VOTER OUTREACH AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Our Electoral Mobilization Program engages thousands of young people online and on the ground to encourage civic engagement in all forms, including new and first time voters and volunteers. The Bus partners with other youth focused organizations to ensure that young people know where to go for resources and information about our political system. In 2023, our six Get out the Vote Interns reached a close to 35,000 young people across the State.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 67% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 39.7%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st 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: 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 47.5%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.27; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 39.7% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $384K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.