Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 954790045
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Pasadena, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6267960782
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,072,080
- Expenses
- $843,173
- Assets
- $6,143,711
- Liabilities
- $42,099
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN HOWELL (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN HOWELL (CEO): $90,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Formed in 2000, the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy works with urgency to identify, conserve, enhance and steward critical natural habitats and wildlife corridors of the San Rafael Hills, Verdugo Mountains and foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains between Tujunga Wash and Altadena, and to link them to the Santa Monica Mountains at Griffith Park. Our overarching goal is to restore biodiversity throughout our Los Angeles region.
What it reported doing in 2024
Land acquisition: researched and shared data about numerous properties containing critical habitat. Led docent tours and community forums about land conservation and wildlife corridors to gain community support for land acquisitions. Met with city planners to educate them about the need for wildlife corridor land conservation. Met with program investors and educated major donors about acquisition opportunities. Created and utilized a land evaluation tool to prioritize land in our study area for acquisition. Conducted outreach to property owners. Acquired additional 3 additional parcels in city of glendale, totaling .697 acres.land stewardship: protected and maintained open space: 55.93 acres in altadena, 17.89 acres in glendale, 7.75 acres in la crescenta, and 11.3 acres in pasadena. Stewardship includes habitat restoration, invasive plant removal, fire fuel reduction, installing and maintaining safe trails, payment of utilities, property taxes, insurance and biological studies.
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. 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: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 84
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 33.9%; rating input score 34
- Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $22.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: 59.3%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.29; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 33.9% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $686K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $90K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.