Gaia Institute Inc

Overview

Mission

Ecological Design, Research, and Education.

What it reported doing in 2019

Ecological Design, Research, and Education

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133861560
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019, Form 990-EZ 2013
Headquarters
City Island, NY, USA
Rating
57
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Physical & Earth Sciences,

Official website

The verdict

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports that some governance safeguards are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.9%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 0.44; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -84.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.5% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6.9% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.9% of revenue deployed · 71.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 annual filings from 2017 to 2019
  • 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.