Mission: The Woodson Center (WC) was founded by Robert L. Woodson, Sr., in 1981 to help residents of low-income neighborhoods address the problems of their communities. Origi ... (More)
The Woodson Center is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1981, and donations are tax-deductible.
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Contact Information
1625 K Street, NW
Suite 410
Washington DC 20006
Important note on the timeliness of ratings
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Financial and Accountability & Transparency score for The Woodson Center is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
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Star Rating System by Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator evaluates a nonprofit organization’s financial health including measures of stability, efficiency and sustainability. We also track accountability and transparency policies to ensure the good governance and integrity of the organization.
Needs Improvement
This charity's score is 76.27, earning it a 2-Star rating. Charity Navigator believes donors can "Give with Confidence" to charities with 3- and 4-Star ratings.
This score is calculated from two sub-scores:
Finance: 72.35 View details
Accountability & Transparency: 81.00 View details
This score represents Form 990 data from 2020, the latest year published by the IRS.
View this organization’s historical ratings.
Star Rated Report
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Program Expense Ratio
67.0%
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s).
This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver. Dividing a charity's average program expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Administrative Expenses
16.9%
As reported by charities on their IRS Form 990, this measure reflects what percent of its total budget a charity spends on overhead, administrative staff and associated costs, and organizational meetings. Dividing a charity's average administrative expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Expenses
16.0%
This measure reflects what a charity spends to raise money. Fundraising expenses can include campaign printing, publicity, mailing, and staffing and costs incurred in soliciting donations, memberships, and grants. Dividing a charity's average fundraising expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
2.9%
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990).
Part of our goal in rating the financial performance of charities is to help donors assess the financial capacity and sustainability of a charity. As do organizations in other sectors, charities must be mindful of their management of total liabilites in relation to their total assets. This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and or long term sustainability. Dividing a charity's total liabilities by its total assets yields this percentage.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Efficiency
$0.11
The amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions. To calculate a charity's fundraising efficiency, we divide its average fundraising expenses by the average total contributions it receives. We calculate the charity's average expenses and average contributions over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Working Capital Ratio
2.09 years
Determines how long a charity could sustain its level of spending using its net available assets, or working capital, as reported on its most recently filed Form 990. We include in a charity's working capital unrestricted and temporarily restricted net assets, and exclude permanently restricted net assets. Dividing these net available assets in the most recent year by a charity's average total expenses, yields the working capital ratio. We calculate the charity's average total expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Growth
-5.03%
We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn.
Source: IRS Form 990
Governance
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has these governance practices in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990
| Governance: | |
|---|---|
| Independent Voting Board Members ... (More) | |
| No Material Diversion of Assets ... (More) A diversion of assets – any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft – can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We check the charity's last two Forms 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets. If the charity does report a diversion, then we check to see if it complied with the Form 990 instructions by describing what happened and its corrective action. This metric will be assigned to one of the following categories:
| |
| Audited Financials Prepared by Independent Accountant ... (More) Audited financial statements provide important information about financial accountability and accuracy. They should be prepared by an independent accountant with oversight from an audit committee. (It is not necessary that the audit committee be a separate committee. Often at smaller charities, it falls within the responsibilities of the finance committee or the executive committee.) The committee provides an important oversight layer between the management of the organization, which is responsible for the financial information reported, and the independent accountant, who reviews the financials and issues an opinion based on its findings. We check the charity's Form 990 reporting to see if it meets this criteria.
| |
| Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From Related Parties ... (More) | |
| Documents Board Meeting Minutes ... (More) | |
| Distributes 990 to Board Before Filing ... (More) | |
| Compensates Board ... (More) |
Policies
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization has these policies in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Policies: | |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest ... (More) | |
| Whistleblower ... (More) | |
| Records Retention and Destruction ... (More) | |
| CEO Compensation Process ... (More) | |
| Donor Privacy ... (More) Donors can be reluctant to contribute to a charity when their name, address, or other basic information may become part of donor lists that are exchanged or sold, resulting in an influx of charitable solicitations from other organizations. Our analysts check the charity's website to see if the organization has a donor privacy policy in place and what it does and does not cover. Privacy policies are assigned to one of the following categories:
The privacy policy must be specific to donor information. A general website policy which references "visitor" or "user" personal information will not suffice. A policy that refers to donor information collected on the website is also not sufficient as the policy must be comprehensive and applicable to both online and offline donors. The existence of a privacy policy of any type does not prohibit the charity itself from contacting the donor for informational, educational, or solicitation purposes. (Less) |
Transparency
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization makes this information easily accessible.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Transparency: | |
|---|---|
| CEO Salary Listed on 990 ... (More) | |
| Board of Directors Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Key Staff Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Audited Financial Statements on Website ... (More) | |
| Form 990 Available on Website ... (More) |
Additional Information
Unscored
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Total Revenue and Expenses
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are this organizations key compensated staff members as identified by our analysts. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Robert Woodson, President
$384,748 (15.40% of Total Expenses)
Current CEO and Board Chair can be found in the Leadership & Adaptability report below.
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2019
Business Master File Data
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Study and research (non-scientific) (BMF activity code: 124)
Publishing activities (BMF activity code: 120)
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Pandemic Response
Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
The Woodson Center reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Administrative Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Only from the administrative side. Primarily, getting the "physical" mail and taking those contributions to the banking institution were our greatest hurdle.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
We haven't been "in person" for as many trainings and meetings as we would have liked, but have transitioned into more Zoom meetings. With nationwide participants, this has actually saved money in many ways because they aren't having to travel as much. We were able to "re-budget" that money to other program related categories.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We had already been transitioning to ACH as a way of paying and receiving so we were not affected too much in that way. Our biggest hurdle was having someone go into the office to pick up physical mail and then how to re-structure roles and responsibilities to continue to maintain proper internal control processes and procedures.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We have transitioned into more Zoom meetings. With nationwide participants, this has actually saved money in many ways because they aren't having to travel as much.
Historical Ratings
| Date Published | Form 990 FYE | Overall Score | Overall Rating |
| Rating Version: 2.1 | |||
| 12/23/2021 | 2020 | 76.27 | |
| 11/1/2021 | 2019 | 75.72 | |
| 12/1/2020 | 2019 | 74.49 | |
This organization received multiple star ratings within this fiscal year, due to an update to its Accountability and Transparency data and/or the receipt of an amended Form 990. | |||
| 6/1/2020 | 2018 | 80.49 |  |
| 6/1/2019 | 2017 | 83.82 | |
| 3/1/2018 | 2016 | 84.04 | |
| 7/1/2017 | 2015 | 87.62 | |
| 6/1/2016 | 2014 | 82.09 | |
| Rating Version: 2.0 | |||
| 2/1/2016 | 2014 | 80.09 | |
| 5/1/2015 | 2013 | 80.08 | |
| 4/1/2014 | 2012 | 82.24 | |
| 5/1/2013 | 2011 | 82.02 | |
| 3/1/2013 | 2011 | 79.47 | |
| 3/1/2012 | 2010 | 86.85 | |
| 9/20/2011 | 2009 | 88.52 | |
| Rating Version: 1.0 | |||
| 12/22/2010 | 2009 | 91.79 |  |
| 4/1/2010 | 2008 | 91.58 | |
| 12/1/2008 | 2007 | 85.31 | |
| 2/1/2008 | 2006 | 80.94 | |
| 12/15/2006 | 2005 | 95.87 | |
| 1/1/2006 | 2004 | 93.42 | |
| 3/1/2005 | 2003 | 93.30 | |
Previous: Finance & Accountability / Next: Leadership & Adaptability
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
Not Currently Scored
The Woodson Center cannot currently be evaluated by our Encompass Rating Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Do you work at The Woodson Center? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Additional Information
Unscored
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Largest Programs
The Woodson Center reported its two largest programs on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
$1,183,920
Spent in most recent FY
65%
Percent of program expenses
1776 Unite Movement
$623,326
Spent in most recent FY
34%
Percent of program expenses
Public Education
Previous: Impact & Results / Next: Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
This score provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by The Woodson Center is a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
TO EMPOWER COMMUNITY-BASED LEADERS TO PROMOTE SOLUTIONS THAT REDUCE CRIME AND VIOLENCE, RESTORE FAMILIES, REVITALIZE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AND ASSIST IN THE CREATION OF ECONOMIC ENTERPRISE.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We turn problems into solutions! Our Founding Principles are: Those suffering the problem must be involved in the creation and implementation of the solution. The principles of the market economy should be applied to the solution of societal problems. Value-generating and faith-based programs are uniquely qualified to address the problems of poverty.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Continue to grow our movement to liberate tens of millions of Americans by helping them become agents of their own uplift and transformation, by embracing the true founding values of our country.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: Continue growth of our Community Affiliate Network by finding grassroots groups in every state; to support them with mini-grants, training and technical assistance that they cannot access or find.
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Goal Three: Voices of Black Mothers United is a more recent project of the Woodson Center. Mothers of fallen Black children are seldom given the platform to speak up and address the crisis of Black homicide.
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
Our organization has paid for and supported outside learning and training as sought out and requested by staff for more than two decades, as long as unrestricted funds were available. That development and training has come in the form of college courses, continuing education for current licenses and certifications and government training seminars.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Policy Advocacy
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
Woodson Center has lead the way for 40 years in every "external mobilization effort" listed here! We are a neighborhood development and innovation non-profit that supports leaders and community members to tackle our nation's toughest problems. We have engaged in strategic partnerships with 100's of non-profits in communities all across the USA. We have partnered with corporations, foundations, Dept of Justice, OJJDP, public and private school systems to help us with those partnerships in the neighborhoods of this nation. Robert L. Woodson, Sr. has testified on Capitol Hill many times. He has been counsel to several Presidents, Congressmen, Senators and staff. Mr. Woodson has appeared on various TV venues, radio shows and podcasts. Woodson Center is represented on all levels of social media to raise awareness of our mission and the mission of communities, parents and schools around this country. If someone wants to meet a grassroots leader, call Woodson Center. We know them!
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Woodson Center gravitates toward "external change" Our role is to support community leaders as needed. This year we began a new neighborhood safety initiative to unite community leaders, advocate for police reform and push back against the Defund the Police movement. That program is Voices of Black Mothers United.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Additional Information
Unscored
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Organization Leadership
Robert L. Woodson, Sr.
President
Gregory L. Snyder
Chairman
Previous: Leadership & Adaptability
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves. Learn more about how and why we rate Culture & Community.
Culture & Community Score
80
out of 100
The Woodson Center has earned a passing score. This score has no effect on the organization's Star Rating. The organization provided data about its Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) practices (see report below).
The Culture & Community Beacon is comprised of the following metrics:
Constituent Feedback: Not Scored
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: 80/100 (100% of beacon score)
Culture & Community Report
80
of 100 points
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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
80/100 points
100% of beacon score
This organization's score of 80 is a passing score. The organization reported that it is implementing 3 diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective DEI policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
View this organization's DEI Strategies
Methodology
We are utilizing data collected by Candid to document and assess the DEI practices implemented by the organization. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the Equity Strategies section of their Candid profiles to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Constituent Feedback
Not Scored
This organization reported that it is not collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. However, it did not respond to one or more survey questions, and therefore is not eligible for a score on this metric. (View our beacon methodology.) Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
View this organization's Constituent Feedback Practices
Methodology
We've partnered with Candid to survey organizations about their feedback practices. Nonprofit organizations can fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Below you can find more information about the metrics we currently evaluate in this beacon and their relevance to nonprofit performance.
Constituent Feedback
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
