American Forest Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521235124
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027653660
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Forest Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,267,955
Expenses
$31,338,342
Assets
$157,811,524
Liabilities
$24,275,824

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RITA HITE (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
  • JILL HARRIS (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE & OPERATIONS)
  • NATHAN TRUITT (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT CLIMATE FUNDING)
  • CHRSTINE CADIGAN-BENONIS (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CARBON ORIGINATION)
  • GLYNNIS BREEN (VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS)
  • DAWN SIMMONS (VICE PRESIDENT OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE)

Highest reported compensation

  • RITA HITE (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $401,457 total reported compensation
  • JILL HARRIS (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE & OPERATIONS): $310,062 total reported compensation
  • NATHAN TRUITT (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT CLIMATE FUNDING): $288,428 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 equip family forest owners with the technical and financial support to make a meaningful conservation impact on their lands and achieve their personal goals for their property.

What it reported doing in 2024

Carbon: harnessing the power of family forests as a critical element in the fight against climate change, aff continues its work to unleash the potential for family forest owners to achieve their goals while making important environmental and economic contributions. Through expanding access and reducing barriers to the voluntary carbon market for family forest owners, aff is working with thousands of landowners to care for their land, improve forest health, and increase timber growth. Within the family forest carbon program, landowners can adopt long-term sustainable management that improves carbon sequestration and storage while balancing other essential forest benefits.

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 87% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 75.3%; rating input score 75; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -54.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $26.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $401K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.6M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 56 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 47 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.