Bay Nature Institute Dba Bay Nature Bay Nature Magazine

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760744881
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5105288550
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,304,302
Expenses
$1,176,760
Assets
$672,642
Liabilities
$179,521

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Wesley Radez (Publisher/ED): $130,156 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bay Nature connects the people of the San Francisco Bay Area to our natural world and motivates people to solve problems with nature in mind. Our vision is that all people have a close relationship with theirnatural world.

What it reported doing in 2025

Bay Nature Institute is an independent nonprofit organization that publishes the award-winning Bay Nature magazine and baynature.org, leads Bay Nature Talk and Hike events, and hosts the annual Local Hero Awards. In Bay Nature, youll find deeply reported and scientifically rigorous stories about the natural environment, conservation, and wildlife in the Bay Areas nine counties. Youll learn fascinating details about the plants and animals around us and discover new parks and open space to explore. Articles also cover important local environmental issues such as repatriating land to indigenous communities, diverse perspectives on prescribed burns, and living on public lands. All Bay Nature stories are enhanced by photos taken by talented local photographers, illuminating maps and charts, and artwork, such as the illustrations by muralist Jane Kim in the column Bay Nature Almanac. Bay Nature is proud of environmental journalism that is trustworthy, inclusive, and reflects diverse perspectives. All pieces in the magazine are fact-checked; Bay Nature is among the small percentage of science magazines in the US that can claim this achievement. In 2025, total readership of the quarterly print magazine exceeded 15,000. Website visitors topped 550,000 with nearly 1 million pageviews. Online-only stories were posted to the website several times weekly, and the 25,000-plus circulation Bay Nature e-newsletter was published weekly. Throughout the year, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pointed readers to new stories, local events, and virtual seminars. Bay Nature hosted more than 80 events in 2025 to bring our journalism to life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.3%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.3% of revenue deployed · 74.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $873K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.