Action for a Wild Earth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853432214
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3039129520
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Reported finances

Revenue
$501,159
Expenses
$86,287
Assets
$429,460
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD READING (CEO)

People named in this filing

  • MEGHAN RUBINSTEIN (COMM. RELATIONS)
  • DIMITRI MARAMENIDES (TECH.&OUTREACH)
  • JOEL BERGER (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

AWE will partner with various organizations who are actively working on conservation, anti-poaching and reducing human wildlife conflict. We aim to find solutions for animals and humans to live harmoniously together and to benefit from each other. We pledge to protect endangered wildlife and support local communities to ensure their health and resilience in a rapidly changing world.

What it reported doing in 2024

We provided significant support for African wild dog research and conservation in Botswana for the first time and consulted on efforts to mitigate human-elephant conflict in the same country. These are both new initiatives for our NGO, but we hope to remain working on them for years to come.We only expended resources on the two projects mentioned above. The main achievements were that we completed an assessment of the adequacy of the area in Botswana (northeast) for bee fencing to mitigate human-elephant conflicts and help them set up a community-based NGO there. For the African wild dogs, we have collars on some animals and collected important data on animals in the dry Kalahari (where they were not supposed to be, but occupy in relatively good numbers).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 37
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 91
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.8%; rating input score 15
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 82.8%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.98; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.8% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $74K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.