Zero Waste Washington

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911178790
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2064411790
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,316,588
Expenses
$883,922
Assets
$1,884,701
Liabilities
$6,416

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

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

Overview

Mission

Zero Waste Washington drives policy change for a healthy and waste free world. We envision a just, equitable, and sustainable future where we all produce, consume, and reuse responsibly. We are the publics voice for zero waste. We educate the public and decision makers about waste prevention, recycling, toxic pollution and producer responsibility.

What it reported doing in 2024

Building the Movement, Community programs and Communications Zero Waste Washington partners with many community organizations to provide programming to encourage recycling, reduce waste and support a circular economy, and to support reuse of items . Our Furniture Repair Bank project began to process to spin off into a new nonprofit In this innovative program, damaged furniture that is on the path to the landfill, is rescued. Volunteers repair and restore the furniture which is delivered to families in need, free of charge. In partnership with Seattle Good Business Network, we hosted a series of PreCycle materials exchange forums around the state, where local business and organizations connected to learn about waste and byproduct materials that can be exchanged. This is the classic situation of one persons trash is anothers treasure. Statewide, we delivered presentations to bolster the growing zero waste movement both through individual and collective actions, as well as policy solutions. We regularly communicated with our members and others through newsletters and social media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.3%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st 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: 32.9%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.13; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.3% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $794K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.