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5100 S MACADAM AVE STE 300
Portland OR 97239-3878
Portland OR | IRS ruling year: 1988 | EIN: 93-0951531
To promote the welfare and well-being of all American Indian and Alaska Native children and families.
Good
This charity's score is 89%, earning it a Three-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 90% Accountability & Finance, 10% Leadership & Adaptability. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Accountability & Finance score for National Indian Child Welfare Association is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations.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.
National Indian Child Welfare Association has earned a 88% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2019, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
Learn more
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Not ApplicableBoard Composition - 16/16 - 25/25 ptsBoard Composition - 16/16 - 25/25 pts
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review - Audited - 20/20 ptsIndependent Audit or Financial Review - Audited - 20/20 pts
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
| Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 ptsConflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 ptsBoard Meeting Minutes - Documented - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Listed - 3/3 ptsDocument Retention and Destruction - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Listed - 3/3 ptsWhistleblower Policy - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website - Listed - 3/3 ptsWebsite - Listed - 3/3 pts
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 20.57% - 15/15 ptsLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 20.57% - 15/15 pts
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
| Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio - 63.51% - 13/25 ptsProgram Expense Ratio - 63.51% - 13/25 pts
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.
| Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. 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
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2020
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:
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. (BMF activity code: 320)
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)
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 search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (National Indian Child Welfare Association) or EIN (930951531) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. 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, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
National Indian Child Welfare Association reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Staffing
Administrative Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Perhaps the single greatest endorsement of our work in the face of the pandemic is that we’ve received direct tribal funding to support our virtual training delivery. In October and November 2020, three American Indian tribal governments, including the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Oregon (a first time NICWA funder) gave us a total of $85,000 in restricted COVID-19 grant funds to support our training.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
Our most significant work in support of frontline social service workers during the pandemic was to convert several of our core training curriculum from in-person to virtual delivery. Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve trained over 2,000 people through our 2020 annual conference and trainings. We offered: Positive Indian Parenting (ten times), Enhancing Basic Skills for Tribal Child Welfare Workers (five times), Working with Substance-Abusing Families (twice), ICWA Qualified Expert Witnesses (once), Child Protection Teams (once), and Developing In-Home Services (once). Rather than delivering existing curriculum virtually, we invested in adjusting instructional design, emphasizing an equal balance of time spent on the trainer’s presentation, large group conversation, and small group exercises in virtual breakouts. We emphasized that our virtual trainings required active participation with warm-up and closing activities and virtual platform functions such as polls and white boards.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
Like many organizations, our leadership prepared staff for remote work, and our entire staff began working from home on March 16, 2020. In late March, we converted our in-person annual conference for 1,500 pre-registered frontline tribal social service workers to a virtual event with only two and a half weeks of planning time. This training event provided important information and a sense of connection to workers who were struggling with isolation while responding to the unfolding pandemic. (As an aside, we learned a lot about how to conduct effective virtual trainings and conferences and would be glad to share this information with other social justice/system change-oriented organizations who are contemplating doing something like this.)
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We believe that the pandemic has changed service delivery. Direct contact with parents was drastically limited, but the need for parent support and training has, if anything, increased. A situation that most people thought would last a few weeks has lasted more than a year and will likely persist well into a second year. Although, with vaccinations, service providers are meeting in-person with clients again, virtual training and virtual service delivery are here to stay. For example, almost two-thirds of Positive Indian Parenting (PIP) trainers we surveyed are conducting or experimenting with virtual delivery, and most are seriously considering continuing at least some virtual delivery post-pandemic. We think that this, in the long run, is a good development that will allow for training to be provided to more people.
Not Currently Scored
National Indian Child Welfare Association cannot currently be evaluated by our 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.
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National Indian Child Welfare Association reported its largest program on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
NICWA is dedicated to the well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families. NICWA addresses the issues of child abuse and neglect through training, research, public policy ... (More)
NICWA is dedicated to the well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families. NICWA addresses the issues of child abuse and neglect through training, research, public policy, and grassroots community development. NICWA's purpose is to improve the lives of AI/AN children and families by helping tribes and other service providers implement services that are culturally competent, community-based, and focused on the strengths and assets of families. This includes collaborating with tribal and urban Indian child welfare programs to increase their service capacity; enhancing tribal-state relationships; and providing training, technical assistance, information services, and alliance building. (Less)
National Indian Child Welfare Association cannot currently be evaluated by our Culture & Community methodology because we have not received data from the charity regarding its Constituent Feedback or Equity Practices strategies.
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.
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National Indian Child Welfare Association has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon 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.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableMission - 10/10 ptsMission - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
To promote the welfare and well-being of all American Indian and Alaska Native children and families.
Vision - 10/10 ptsVision - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
Every Native child must have access to community-based, culturally appropriate services that help them grow up safe, healthy, and spiritually strong—free from abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation, and the damaging effects of substance abuse.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Goals - 20/20 ptsGoals - 20/20 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: NICWA provides community-based, culturally specific technical assistance to tribal child welfare programs to decolonize programs to better meet the needs of their member families.
Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.
Goal Two: NICWA upholds the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a federal law protecting the well-being of Native children and families. It strengthens family integrity and stability within communities.
Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.
Goal Three: NICWA launched a pilot study of our culturally based parenting curriculum, Positive Indian Parenting (PIP), to build an evidence base for PIP under the Family First Prevention Services Act criteria.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Leadership Development - 15/15 ptsLeadership Development - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
NICWA recognizes the importance of providing employees with professional development opportunities in a variety of forms that increase their skills and enhance their contributions to the organization and are in line with our mission. Providing professional development to our employees is an investment in their career and NICWA's future. NICWA may contribute up to $600 per year toward a regular, full-time employee’s approved professional development activities. This amount may be pro-rated for regular part-time employees. It is the employee's responsibility to seek out opportunities. Professional development opportunities may include, but are not limited to, attendance at seminars, workshops, cultural activities, and webinars; participating in continuing education to maintain licensure/credentials; individual coursework toward an advance degree; pursuing opportunities to build leadership skills and/or enhance professional effectiveness; and membership fees to professional organizations.
Mobilizing for Mission - 15/15 ptsMobilizing for Mission - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Policy Advocacy
At our annual Protecting Our Children Conference in April of 2021, we provided practical, timely, and culturally relevant information to 1,212 frontline tribal child welfare and behavioral health workers. Participants represented 272 American Indian/Alaska Native/First Nations governments from 47 US states and Canadian provinces. Our theme of “Connectedness, Persistence, and Resilience” truly connected attendees over three days of content including four plenary sessions, 50 workshops, and 142 speakers. Two participants commented about our conference: "… the conference was not just informative, but also a very inspiring and uplifting experience." "I appreciate how the information, research materials, and topics are current and relevant to what we experience in the field and in tribal communities. The energy and enthusiasm of NICWA staff helps in re-energizing thoughts, processes, and program planning in a field that is filled with challenges and despair."
Adaptability Story - 30/30 ptsAdaptability Story - 30/30 pts
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
To best meet the training needs of frontline tribal child welfare and behavioral health workers, NICWA’s primary response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to transition in-person trainings to virtual delivery, prioritizing Positive Indian Parenting and Working with Substance-Abusing Families curricula. At the outset of the pandemic, staff began working remotely and converted our in-person annual conference for 1,500 pre-registered tribal social service workers to a virtual event with only two and a half weeks of planning time. This event provided information and a sense of connection to those struggling with isolation while responding to the unfolding pandemic. NICWA advocated for Indian Country funding and policy priorities in congressional relief and recovery packages and worked with the administration to loosen regulations to facilitate services to families, e.g., the ability to use existing child welfare funding to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for workers and families, as well as to purchase cell phones and/or increase cell phone plans to accommodate visitation between children in out-of-home placement and their families. NICWA developed a webpage to curate resources for tribes including information about federal and private funding sources and best practices for adapting service delivery. NICWA also hosted eight webinars about the child welfare response to the pandemic to gather information from workers in the field and share emerging best practices for service delivery. NICWA engaged the press in talking about what the pandemic means for Native communities (for example, CBS This Morning video diaries of child welfare workers and a blog to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on grandparents raising their grandchildren) in partnership with Generations United.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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