Lambert House

“There are no committees with the authority to act on behalf of the governing body”

“Reviewed by the executive director, the final form 990 is circulated to the full board for review prior to submission to the irs”

“Directors are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest either in a board meeting or in writing. Disclosures are recorded in the board minutes.”

“The board use a national salary survey from harvard university to compare similar non-profit employees with similar credentials. The last compensation review was in october 2020.”

“UPON REQUEST”

“In 2021, lambert house served more than 800 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and allied (lgbtq+) youth. Programs focused on health and mental health risk prevention through peer support, adult support for youth with lgbtq+ identities, suicide prevention, crisis intervention, family connectedness, educational workshops, and leadership development internships, among other topics. Participants ranged in age from 10 to 22 years old. Programming occurred seven days a week. We delivered in-person programming in four locations in western washington state. We also offered 28 recurring weekly online programs and activities. Youth residing in 28 u.s. States participated in our online programs. Youth from nine counties in washington state participated in-person or online. The online programs were delivered all year on four software platforms to meet the needs of youth with different technology access needs, interests, and living situations.”

“In 2021 lambert house engaged 70 skilled volunteers to deliver programs to youth. Lambert house chooses to have volunteers deliver service so that diverse lgbtq+ youth can have a large pool of diverse adult role models. Supportive adults are a documented protective factor for this service population. They are a centerpiece of our programming. A 100% paid staff would have 65 fewer adults than the volunteer pool has and could not benefit lgbtq+ youth nearly as much as our large volunteer pool does. Many lambert house alumni cite the volunteers as the highlight of their lambert house experience. As a business model, using volunteers to deliver programs results in lambert house having an outsized impact on the community for relatively little cost. By engaging skilled volunteers in service delivery, lambert house produces a great value for both individual and institutional donors and for the community. In 2021, skilled volunteers contributed 9,870 hours of labor running lambert house youth programs. (this does not include administrative, fundraising, or facility volunteers.) the program volunteers' time can be valued at the 2021 washington state volunteer equivalency rate of $34.87/hour (https://independentsector.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/value-of-volun teer-time-by-state-2001-2021.pdf). The programs delivered by those volunteers would have cost lambert house more than $344,167 to deliver with paid staff (70 volunteers x 3 hours each per week x 47 weeks per year x $34.87 per hour = $344,167. Paid staff with payroll taxes and benefits, delivering the same amount of client services, would actually have cost more). The 70 skilled volunteers delivered approximately 49,350 hours of direct client contact, i.e., a lot of programming (9,870 hours of volunteering x an average of five youth (a low estimate) together simultaneously in each program per volunteer hour = 49,350 hours of client contact). This highly cost-effective business model delivers outstanding value to donors, as well as being the most effective program model for lgbtq+ youth physical and mental health risk prevention, and intervention. The use of volunteers keeps lambert house's program expense low as a percentage of total expense. This is called the program expense ratio, and lambert house's low program expense ratio documents a great value for donors. However, under irs rules, that $344,167 of program value is omitted from this form 990 because it was delivered by people who were not paid. The form 990 thereby understates lambert house's 2021 programming value to the community by $344,167 (or more). Although lambert house's fiscal performance is an exemplar of cost-effectiveness, nonprofit rating companies and certain consultants and foundation staffers who rely on those ratings, reward high program expense ratios and penalize low program expense ratios. Their judgment is based on the idea that nonprofits should spend most of their expenses on their programs and not on their administration and fundraising, a worthy goal. That 75% of total expenses should be spent on program expense (and no more than 25% on administrative and fundraising costs combined) has long been a widely recognized best practice and benchmark in nonprofit management. But what of an agency such as lambert house that fulfills its mission best by engaging skilled community members as volunteers to deliver most of its programs? By being cost-effective, it does not spend 75% of its total expenses on its programs. It actually provides a better value for donors by saving money on program staff, yet receives a lower rating for doing so. Both for-profit and nonprofit businesses that rate nonprofits, and foundation staffers and accountants, are often not as deeply knowledgeable in their understanding of nonprofit management as they might be. For instance, their employees mistakenly think that if an agency spends a lot on program staff then it is cost-effective. A high program expense ratio merely proves t”