Acequia Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205747800
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-T 2023
Location
San Luis, CO, USA
Phone
2062284876
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Farmland Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$201,500
Expenses
$410,165
Assets
$2,267,537
Liabilities
$5,096

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Devon G Pena (President)
  • Elisa Sabatini (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shirley Romero-Otero (Director): $37,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promoting conservation of acequia and other traditional farming systems through education, research and small direct-to-producer grants, graduate student fellowships, tuition scholarships for youth of acequia farm families, and agroecology and restoration ecology projects at the institute's 181-acre farm in Viejo San Acacio, Colorado.

What it reported doing in 2023

Milpa-molino-move mountains youth collaborative pilot project

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 66%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -103.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.53; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $271K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2011 to 2023
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.