Three Rivers Law Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462156595
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Longview, WA, USA
Phone
3604424101
Rating
55
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$733,339
Expenses
$603,954
Assets
$263,765
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jami Pannell (Managing Director, President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jami Pannell (Managing Director, President): $46,560 total reported compensation
  • Jeffrey Petersen (Legal Director, V.P.): $46,560 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to provide legal services to clients at every income level, and we have set fees considerably lower than market value. We have adopted a sliding scale allowing our services to be accessible to those who do not qualify for Legal Aid, but who cannot afford to hire a traditional law firm.

What it reported doing in 2023

Our sole program provides legal and mediation services as described in our exempt purposes statement. All business expenses incurred were in direct or indirect support of this goal. We served 688 clients this year (340 total matters), including 27 mediation matters that kept clients out of court.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 17
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 17.5%; rating input score 18
  • Program expense ratio: 21.3%; rating input score 21
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.6%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 17.5% of revenue deployed · 21.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $129K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $47K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 18/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.