Washington State Opportunity Scholarship Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
933293868
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2068008025
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,443,730
Expenses
$16,849,645
Assets
$121,816,675
Liabilities
$445,163

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSICA PEET (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • KIMBER CONNORS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WSOSF)
  • JOHNATHAN LUSTER (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WSOS)
  • JEANETTE MUNOZ-COLON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WSOS FROM 06/25)

Highest reported compensation

  • KIMBER CONNORS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WSOSF): $73,370 total reported compensation
  • JOHNATHAN LUSTER (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WSOS): $68,995 total reported compensation
  • GARRY HOFFMAN (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $23,590 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Transform Washington state by building pathways to high-demand jobs that strengthen our communities and economy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Washington state opportunity scholarship foundation (foundation) began operations in 2024 to serve as the program administrator for the Washington state opportunity scholarship program (program) by providing finance, technology, and human resource services. The wsos program is the first public-private scholarship program dedicated to building lasting pathways to post-secondary education and high-demand health care, stem, and trade careers for all Washington students. We accelerate equitable change for historically excluded students and increase the local talent pool for Washington businesses. See schedule o.in the academic year 24-25, we served over 5,600 scholarships statewide including scholar representation across every legislative district and county in the state. To date, the wsos program has over 12,500 graduates working in high-demand fields like healthcare, engineering, and trades.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 85% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 99.7%; 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; 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: -99.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.23; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $73K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.