Adventure Crew

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474230979
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5132359700
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$895,789
Expenses
$844,079
Assets
$349,985
Liabilities
$1,084

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH HUNTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH HUNTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $88,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of adventure crew is to connect city teens to nature and each other through engaging outdoor adventures. Through adventure crew, city teens develop the courageous spirit to step out of their comfort zone and discover new worlds outside in nature, and inside themselves. For 11 years, adventure crew has been working to remove the barriers many of our young people face in experiencing the physical, mental, and social wellbeing gained from time spent in nature and outdoor adventure activities. This fiscal year, over 700 crew teens took on fun, new challenges through our 4-tiered progressive program framework, the "crew pathways". At each level, students experience the peace, beauty, and invigoration of natural spaces, redefining their relationship with the outdoors as a transformational resource and a place of inclusion and belonging.

What it reported doing in 2024

In this fiscal year, adventure crew produced the 24th year of the Ohio river paddlefest, held the first saturday in august. Paddlefest is the nation's largest paddling event and an open-to-the-public community program that connects thousands of people to the Ohio river and outdoor recreation. This year, just over 1,650 kayakers, canoeers, and stand-up paddleboarders registered to participate. Adventure crew youth participate in paddlefest as volunteers and paddlers, directly connecting the event to adventure crew's mission of expanding outdoor access for city teens. The evening before paddlefest, adventure crew hosted the outdoors for all expo, a free-admission community gathering featuring 70 vendors from the outdoor recreation, retail, nonprofit, and government sectors, along with live music, food, and drinks.in late august of each year, adventure crew hosts the bill keating, jr. Great Ohio river swim, an open-to-the-public community program that brings together open-water swimmers on the Ohio river. This year, 220 swimmers participated, crossing the Ohio river and back, with the option to enter the "double dip", an additional 2.5-mile swim along the Ohio bank before entering the main course. Proceeds support adventure crew's swimming programs and broader outdoor programming for city teens.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.7%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 66.1%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 5.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.7% of revenue deployed · 66.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $558K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.