United Chinese Americans

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821111498
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$584,650
Expenses
$771,815
Assets
$307,282
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Haipei Shue (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Haipei Shue (President): $95,400 total reported compensation
  • Hong Qi Wagner (Operations Director (No voting)): $37,625 total reported compensation
  • Ray Liang (Executvie Director / Director): $33,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

United Chinese Americans (UCA) is a nationwide nonprofit and nonpartisan federation and civic movement, inspired and dedicated to enriching and empowering Chinese American communities through civic engagement, political participation, heritage sharing, youth development and a greater understanding between the people of the United States and China for the well-being of all Amercans and this world.

What it reported doing in 2024

UCA holds a Chinese American Convention every two years. There were more than 600 attendees in the convention in 2024, including about 80 youth. People from around the US participated and had great exchange of ideas and helped civic participation of the Chinese Americans. There have been great speeches, showcases, discussions and congressional visits, etc. It is one of the great achievements of the UCA

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 64.8%; rating input score 65
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.3%; rating input score 91; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -32%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 64.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 23 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $500K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.