Ark-valley Humane Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841161648
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Buena Vista, CO, USA
Phone
7193952737
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,700,580
Expenses
$1,195,086
Assets
$2,964,081
Liabilities
$71,669

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Angie Burgess (Secretary)
  • Allison Gergley (Chairman)
  • Sarah C McMahon (Treasurer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ark-Valley Humane Society's (AVHS) Mission is ensuring the welfare of companion animals through compassion and care. AVHS operated an open-admission animal shelter for Chaffee County, Colorado.

What it reported doing in 2025

Our team of twelve staff members, six board members, and 101 volunteers helped 2,055 animals through our sheltering, spay/neuter, microchipping, safety net, and adoption programs last year. In doing so, the average length of stay for animals at our shelter was only 22.6 days and our Asilomar Live Release Rate was 98.7%. Of the 653 animals sheltered, 87% of cats and 85% of dogs originated in Chaffee County. Others received were relinquished by owners living in surrounding counties or transferred in from shelters in need. Through our transfer partnerships we worked with 6 shelters across Colorado, 2 in Utah, and 1 in New Mexico, and brought in an additional 51 adoptable pets to our community: 13 cats and 38 dogs. All 431 dogs and cats adopted from the shelter were spayed or neutered, up-to-date on vaccinations, and microchipped before leaving our doors. Additionally, our community support programs, aiming to keep pets and people together, continue to grow stronger, year over year. Our community assistance spay and neuter programs provided reduced or no-cost spay/neuter for 250 cats and dogs living in Chaffee County. In addition, 67 reduced or no-cost microchips were provided to owned pets. Our community pet food and supply pantry served 1,071 pets, and 15 pets received free emergency boarding services. We partnered with local dog trainers to offer 14 at-risk community dogs 38 individualized training lessons through our behavior training support program. We partnered with Chaffee County Hospitality to offer motel room stays for unsheltered individuals and their pets during the coldest nights of the year, offering 105 nights of respite and benefitting 18 additional community pets, and we partnered with Chaffee County Community Foundation to offer a Community Pet Fund that benefitted 36 additional community pets. AVHS maintained operations in two facilities: our main facility in Buena Vista and a police impound facility in Salida, which received 68 animals.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.6%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 72.9%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 3rd 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.7%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.48; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.6% of revenue deployed · 72.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $871K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 26 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.