Audubon Nature Institute
Legal name: Audubon Nature Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510157624
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- New Orleans, LA, US
- Phone
- (504) 861-2537
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $61,293,521
- Expenses
- $54,152,232
- Assets
- $21,999,453
- Liabilities
- $16,999,624
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
46 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- L Ronald Forman (President & CEO)
- Daine Appleberry (Senior Vice President)
- Richard D Toth Jr (Senior Vice President)
- Stephen Davis (Senior Vice President Business Development)
- Thomas Bagwill (Senior Vice President of Philanthropy)
- Alicia Bunnell (Vice President of Marketin)
Highest reported compensation
- L Ronald Forman (President & CEO): $2,088,856 total reported compensation
- Kyle Burks (Exec VP/COO): $259,442 total reported compensation
- Laurie Conkerton (Exec VP/CAO): $246,800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Through conservation, education, and community engagement, we work to inspire a deeper connection to nature and ensure a thriving future for animals, ecosystems, and the people who share them.
What it reported doing in 2024
See Schedule O
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 93% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 67.9%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $18.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 60.1% of revenue deployed · 67.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $36.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $2.1M · 46 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.6M reported
- Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- 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 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.