United Way of King County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910565555
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
206.461.3700
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,716,900
Expenses
$52,836,640
Assets
$54,918,299
Liabilities
$4,744,961

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

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GORDON MCHENRY JR (PRESIDENT CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • GORDON MCHENRY JR (PRESIDENT CEO): $484,851 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH SANTO DOMINGO (CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER): $247,116 total reported compensation
  • LINDSAY HARPER (CHIEF PHILANTHROPY OFFICER): $241,992 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 is the Way™ we build an equitable future in King County. Working side by side with more than 140 other local nonprofits as well as businesses, local leaders, government, and volunteers, our vision is a community where all people thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Equitable philanthropy: our equitable philanthropy program in fy25 encompassed the black community building collective (bcbc), the indigenous communities fund (icf), and backbone support for our county's portion of the state department of commerce's community reinvestment plan (crp). Bcbc addresses historic underinvestment in black-led organizations, combining flexible, trust-based funding with intentional relationship-building to strengthen organizational sustainability and collective impact across king county. In fy25 we supported 14 organizations. Icf supports tribes and native-led nonprofits in king county through participatory grantmaking that partners with native community members to determine grant criteria, evaluate funding requests, and make funding decisions. In fy25 we supported 29 organizations. Our crp project made grants to approximately 80 organizations, prioritizing those with annual budgets of less than $2 million

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 40th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -6.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 11 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 80.4% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 37 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $39.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $485K · 44 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 203 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 195 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.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.