Arundel Rivers Federation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522301464
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Edgewater, MD, USA
Phone
4102243802
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,510,892
Expenses
$3,390,904
Assets
$2,667,562
Liabilities
$285,980

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW JOHNSTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW JOHNSTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $151,418 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER PILHOLSKI (DIRECTOR OF GRANTS AND RESTORATION): $105,486 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Deeply rooted in the south, west, and rhode rivers, arundel rivers federation heals and protects our waterways and champions clean water across Maryland.

What it reported doing in 2025

The arundel rivers restoration program works with communities, funders, and other partners to restore our land and waterways. These projects, both small and large in scale, actively trap and filter pollutants from stormwater, slow erosion, create habitat for creatures in and around our rivers and make our lands and communities more resilient.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.4%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.7% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $151K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $502K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.