Bear Creek Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363939787
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Billings, MT, USA
Phone
4062481154
Rating
93
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,928
Expenses
$102,596
Assets
$71,763
Liabilities
$1,281

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Barbara Ulrich O'Grady (Chair)
  • Scott Brovsky (Vice-Chair)
  • Nathan Varley (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Bear Creek Council, based in Gardiner, Montana, is a local grassroots organization. We work to protect our unique environment and preserve the quality of life in our small community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Other: We supported and participated in the broader regional and state-wide work of the Northern Plains Resource Council, continued our ongoing work to develop leadership skills in our members, and deepen connection and cooperation among community members. We awarded our annual scholarship to a local high school graduate who is pursuing higher education and a career in a field that is complementary to our mission and goals.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.8%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -328.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -54.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.3% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $102K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.