True North of Columbia Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, the true north emergency shelter served 266 residents, including 155 women, 107 children, 3 men, and 1 non-conforming or transgender individual, providing over 6,180 nights of emergency shelter and 10,436 supportive advocacy services. The average length of stay for families was 23 days. Services included counseling, case management, crisis intervention, domestic violence and sexual assault education, safety planning, financial assistance, court and hospital advocacy, parenting sessions, individual child sessions, assistance with ex parte orders of protection, support groups including life skills sessions, and victim advocacy. The primary goal of the emergency shelter is to keep victims of domestic violence and sexual assault safe by providing a secure and confidential residence and ensuring that every resident leaves the program safer than when they arrived. Resident destinations often indicate program effectiveness. In 2024, 33.84% of those exiting the shelter transitioned to safe, permanent housing or extended transitional housing of two years or more, 52.10% moved to safe, temporary locations, and 4.69% returned to unsafe situations. Among residents completing exit interviews and surveys, 88.37% reported progress toward safety goals, 62.79% reported progress toward housing goals, 71.43% reported progress on legal goals, 78.38% reported progress in building support systems, and 84.21% reported progress in utilizing community resources. Additionally, 96.55% of respondents reported feeling more hopeful about the future, and 89.36% reported that their children now have a better understanding of what has been happening at home.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
• Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $16.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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; 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • 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: 16.5%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.13; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings