Au Sable Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
381713340
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Mancelona, MI, USA
Phone
2315878686
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,652,618
Expenses
$1,286,464
Assets
$4,847,157
Liabilities
$124,954

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MR JONATHAN TERRY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MR JONATHAN TERRY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $107,134 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of au sable is "to inspire and educate people to serve, protect and restore god's earth". Its faculty and staff provide expanded collegiate, field-based learning opportunities for students attending over 50 colleges and universities within the christian academy, and they mentor graduate students as they investigate the intersections of christian faith, environmental science, and praxis. A number of students are trained as environmental education interns, who in turn teach elementary school children about the wonders of god's creation in their communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The environmental education program for this year included regular visits to schools through our reys program and field trips to the institute. We served students and teachers from eight school districts from northwest lower Michigan. As part of our community outreach we also served 3 churches in our sacred grounds program helping them to install native plant gardens on their property.

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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.2%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.77; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $985K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.