Work Now Hawaii

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 822143896
IRS 990 coverage: 2020–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location: Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone: 8082022310
Rating: 75
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Sheltered Employment

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $9,077,587
Expenses: $9,118,853
Assets: $2,056,818
Liabilities: $1,994,107

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

ROBERT SAGE (PRESIDENT, S)

Highest reported compensation

ROBERT SAGE (PRESIDENT, S): $268,707 total reported compensation
PATRICK GARTSIDE (EXECUTIVE DI): $172,825 total reported compensation
RILEY DETTMAN (DIR OF EMP S): $141,355 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Work now Hawaii is established to help people living with disabilities achieve independence through gainful employment. Our unique training programs are designed to maximize an individual's strengths and abilities in a way that increases their confidence and productivity. We identify and create accommodations our clients will use to be successful throughout their careers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Work now Hawaii increased its labor force from 52 to 95 employees. In doing so, providing more employment opportunities for individuals living with disabilities. Continued partnerships with federal, state and other nonprofit programs further support the community. In 2024, work now Hawaii focused on expanding its employment services program to include work based learning, job coaching, supportive employment and vocational and work adjustment training services. Through these programs, we've supported 201 individuals this year.

Operating model

Revenue model: Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model: Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 80
Transparency & Controls: 68
Accountability: 82
Sustainability: 23
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 90.2%; rating input score 90
Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
Foreign activity oversight: Limited
Grant itemization coverage: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Limited
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

Operating margin: -0.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.97; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 64.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 58.1% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 54.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 90.2% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.2M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: 2 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.

High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.