Advanced Conservation Strategies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204002778
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Williamsburg, VA, USA
Phone
7575250990
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$823,503
Expenses
$846,596
Assets
$502,671
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • C JOSH DONLAN III PhD (DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • C JOSH DONLAN III PhD (DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT): $170,039 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We combine science and human-centered design to create new ways of approaching environmental problem solving. We conduct synthetic science to inform environmental conservation and sustainability decision-making. We collaborate with foundations and others to monitor, evaluate, and learn from existing environmental efforts and programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES - (1) Coastal Solutions Fellows Program Evaluation - Led a mid-term evaluation for Cornell University's Coastal Solutions Fellows Program. (2) Testing New Rodenticide in Urban Environments - Testing new methods for rodent control in urban environments on Google campuses in California. (3) Maya Forest Trust Conservation Plan - Design and implement applied social science to characterize the stakeholders living near the Maya Forest National Park in Belize. (4) Discretionary Spending - Explored and developed new potential collaborations and funding proposals, as well as supported interns. (5) Plataforma Costera - Design and support an online platform whose goal is to provide a central location for knowledge dissemination and collaboration for the Chileans working on coastal sustainability issues. (6) Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) for Packard Foundation - Led various MEL activities for the David & Lucile Packard Foundation's Shorebird and Chile Oceans programs. (7) Conservation Value and Risk Assessment - Leading assessments for the bioscience company Colossal to provide species-specific guidance around de-extinction to maximize conservation impact while minimizing and mitigating potential harm.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -2.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $765K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 5 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.