Asombro Institute for Science Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850386047
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Las Cruces, NM, USA
Phone
5755243334
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural History, Natural Science Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$454,101
Expenses
$432,471
Assets
$770,549
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Justin Van Zee (President)
  • Carrie Hernandez (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Justin Van Zee (President)
  • Carrie Hernandez (Vice President)
  • Donna Yargosz (Secretary)

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

The Asombro Institute for Science Education is dedicated to increasing natural science literacy through engaging, place-based education. We provide hands-on science education programs in classrooms, schoolyards, and at the organization's Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. We also provide teacher professional development workshops and programs for the general public.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided hands-on science education programs (field trips, classroom lessons, schoolyard ecology projects, teacher workshops, and public events) to 19,226 K-12 students, 658 teachers, and 1,267 other adults.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 64% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.78; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.1% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $384K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 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.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.