Young Audiences of Oregon Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930521848
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032255900
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,416,016
Expenses
$1,716,740
Assets
$207,463
Liabilities
$86,466

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEXIA WELLONS (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • JARKO CAIN (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LAUREN JOST (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU MAY 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • LAUREN JOST (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU MAY 2025)): $77,597 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to connect young people with diverse arts and creative experiences, and make the arts abundantly accessible in their schools and communities.we envision a world where arts and creativity are valued as essential, and abundantly accessible to all.our passionate staff and roster of 100+ artists partner with schools and community spaces to provide residencies, workshops, performances, and career connections, and to train teachers and artists in the art of teaching with, through, and about the arts.each year we serve more than 50,000 students in 27 school districts across portland metro, sw Washington, and central Oregon with high-quality arts integration and enrichment programs that inspire, connect, and transform young people's learning experiences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Arts for learning northwest (alnw) program delivery focuses on reducing barriers to access for artists, young people, and schools who have been historically marginalized. This includes robust support for culturally specific teaching artists on our roster, subsidized funding for targeted demographics, and supporting equitable school fundraising. We believe that students learn best from artists who are living and working in their communities, which is why we actively recruit in rural communities as well as the metro area. Alnw serves over 50,000 students at over 100 schools annually, which cross more than 25 school districts and 9 counties in Oregon and southwest Washington. These schools range from small rural schoolhouses to large urban campuses, and everything in between.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: Limited
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -21.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.