Washington Area Community Investment Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541442466
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025295505
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,672,318
Expenses
$6,907,756
Assets
$11,508,062
Liabilities
$6,057,282

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHANNAN HERBERT (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHANNAN HERBERT (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $289,209 total reported compensation
  • KIMBERLY GAYLE (CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER): $180,935 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN CARRAS (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $169,083 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Washington area community investment fund (wacif) is a nonprofit community loan fund focused on increasing equity and economic opportunity in the Washington, dc area's underserved communities. Wacif's mission is driven by three strategic pillars: inclusive entrepreneurship, community wealth building, and equitable economic opportunity, and is fulfilled by providing access to capital products and services, and capacity building advisory services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs.

What it reported doing in 2025

Small business advisory services - wacif provides a variety of advisory opportunities in underserved d.c. Area communities including group classes, one-on-one advisement on specific capacity building issues to identify areas of growth, and intensive, cohort-based programs like our ascend capital accelerator. Wacif's small business advisory expertise and offerings cover topics including business planning, marketing, financial management, law, real estate, and getting transaction-ready.in 2025, wacif made a powerful difference, delivering a transformative year of impact. Wacif hosted 109 events with a combined 1057 attendees and provided over 591 hours of technical assistance, empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners with the tools they need to succeed.through strategic collaboration with more than 36 growth partners, professional service providers, instructors, artists, and creatives, wacif delivered top-tier support that strengthened our clients' pathways to growth and sustainability. Additionally, our outreach and engagement efforts extended to over 16 organizations across Maryland and Virginia, where we led panel discussions, delivered capital readiness training, and built stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.9%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 62.9%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.67; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.9% of revenue deployed · 62.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $289K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $218K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.