West Pierce Firefighters Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
916050504
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lakewood, WA, USA
Phone
2532198125
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$607,695
Expenses
$541,822
Assets
$585,195
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • K BERGSMA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • M CAMERON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BRYAN COPELAND (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRYAN COPELAND (PRESIDENT): $37,033 total reported compensation
  • COLTEN RUSSELL (SECRETARY TREA): $27,159 total reported compensation
  • K BERGSMA (VICE PRESIDENT): $24,689 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Commnity assistance related to firefighting

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for affiliated organizations.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.8%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.3% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $488K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.