Waymark Research publishes independent financial health research on Oregon nonprofits — helping executive directors understand the sector, their organization, and what to do next. No jargon. No spreadsheets. Just clarity.
A quarterly orientation for nonprofit leaders — tracking the forces shaping your funding, your community, and your options.
Federal funding is less predictable than it's been in a decade. Foundation giving is rising to fill the gap. And the organizations that will come out ahead are the ones paying attention to both. This edition covers what's shifting, what's at risk, where the decisions are, and where the real openings are.
Most nonprofit EDs are strong on mission and strong on programs. Financial clarity is where they need a thinking partner — not a bookkeeper, not an auditor, but someone who translates the numbers into decisions.
I've spent my career inside nonprofit finance operations — managing month-end closes, grant billing, cash management, and the financial reporting that boards and program directors actually use to make decisions. What I kept seeing was a gap: organizations doing important work, led by talented people, without clear financial visibility at the leadership level.
Waymark Research exists to close that gap — through independent sector research and hands-on financial health work with organizations in the $500K–$10M range. Based in Portland. Focused on Oregon.
The first annual analysis of financial health across 200+ Portland-area nonprofits — benchmarked across five pillars, three years of data, and what it all means for the sector.
Drawing on IRS Form 990 filings from 200+ Portland-area organizations across FY2022–2024, this report examines cash health, revenue diversification, margin, efficiency, and debt — and what the patterns reveal about organizational resilience and leadership clarity across the sector.
Quarterly sector briefs, early access to the annual 990 report, and the financial intelligence Oregon nonprofit leaders actually need. Free. No noise.