Bighorn River Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
365177006
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Billings, MT, USA
Phone
4065342915
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$555,971
Expenses
$412,096
Assets
$970,678
Liabilities
$37,860

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNE MARIE EMERY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNE MARIE EMERY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $90,917 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To protect, preserve and enhance the long-term health and viability of the bighorn river recognizing its significance to the wild trout fishery, the agricultural community and the crow nation through which it flows.

What it reported doing in 2025

Research initiative: the bighorn river alliance recognizes that the health of the bighorn river fishery is dependent on the ecological health of the entire river corridor. The research initiatve program works to better understand the health of the river and how it responds to natural and human factors, through in depth scientific inquiry that can lead to projects that protect and preserve the resource. Components of this program include the annual long-term monitoring of water quality and macroinvertebrate communities, monitoring of rainbow trout spawning grounds, large scale side channel restoration work that restores connection between the bighorn river and its side channels, and monitoring of habitats post restoration. To date, bighorn river alliance has restored 9 side channels.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.9%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.9%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.36; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.9% of revenue deployed · 75.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $310K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.